Landmarks  of  Liberty 

THE  GROWTH  OF  AMERICAN   POLITICAL 

IDEALS   AS   RECORDED   IN    SPEECHES 

FROM 

OTIS   TO    HUGHES 


EDITED  WITH 
INTRODUCTION  AND  NOTES 

BY 

ROBERT  P.  ST.  JOHN 

AND 

RAYMOND  L.  NOONAN 


SECOND   EDITION 


m 


NEW  YORK 
HARCOURT,  BRACE  AND  COMPANY 


-Tk'  // 


(9  ^  > 


COPYRIGHT,    I920,    1922,    BY 
HARCOURT,    BRACE   AND   COMPANY,   INC. 


-U 


PRINTED     IN     THE     USA 


PREFACE 

The  editors  of  this  book  have  tried  to  gather  in  a 
single  volume  as  many  as  possible  of  the  great  speeches 
that  have  had  an  important  influence  on  the  growth 
of  American  political  ideals.  Had  the  limits  of  their 
volume  permitted,  they  would  have  begun  with  Crom- 
well and  would  have  traced  the  growth  of  our  institu- 
tions from  their  English  sources.  As  it  is  they  have 
begun  with  the  first  evidence  of  alienation  from  the 
Mother  Country  and  have  followed  the  story  ^o  the 
close  of  the  Great  War.  Speeches  of  much  historical 
importance,  such  as  those  that  discussed  the  adoption^^^ 
of  the  Constitution,  have  necessarily  been  omitted,  ^fc 
The  speeches  here  included,  however,  it  is  believed 
constitute  a  series  sufficiently  complete  to  give  stu- 
dents a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  our  national 
life  and  a  new  appreciation  of  the  sacrifice  and  labor 
that  produced  the  American  political   fabric. 

Many  teachers  maintain  that  the  reading  of  speeches 
in  a  collection  can  be  made  more  valuable  than  the 
prolonged  study  of  one  or  two  orations.  A  sufficiently 
large  number  of  selections,  they  say,  permits  the  in- 
structor to  make  use  of  comparative  methods  of  study 
that  are  both  stimulating  and  interesting.  As  pupils 
read  the  speeches,  the  teacher  can  emphasize,  as  the 
welfare  of  the  class  seems  to  demand,  historical 
significance,  the  ideals  of  good  citizenship,  oral  ex- 
pression, rhetorical  structure,  or  the  principles  of 
argument  and  persuasion.  It  is  not  unlikely,  more- 
over, that  this  volume  can  be  used  with  profit  even 

iii 

.37403 


iv  PREFACE 

by  those  instructors  who  prefer  to  have  pupils  engage 
in  the  detailed  study  of  one  or  two  great  speeches 
rather  than  undertake  a  course  in  comparative  read- 
ing, for  the  volume  contains  material  sufficiently 
diverse   to   satisfy  every   taste. 

The  editors  wish  to  acknowledge  with  thanks  the 
permission  of  President  Wilson,  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
and  Otto  H.  Kahn  to  print  speeches  included  in  this 
book.  The  Call  to  Arms,  by  H.  H.  Asquith,  was  in- 
cluded through  permission  obtained  from  The  Current 
History  Magazine,  published  by  the  New  York  Times 
Company.  The  editors  are  also  indebted  to  the  New 
York  Times  Company  for  permission  to  print  Premier 
Lloyd  George's  speech  on  America's  Entrance  into  the 
War. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction vn 

James  Otis Writs  of  Assistance        3 

February,  1761 

William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham.  .American  Taxation      11 
January  14,  1766 

John  Wilkes War  with  America      19 

February  6,  1775 

Edmund  Burke   Conciliation     with 

America     ... 25 

March  22,  1775 

Patrick  Henry   Liberty  or  Death . .       94 

March  23,  1775 

George  Washington Farewell  Address. .     100 

September  19,  1796 

Daniel  Webster   First    Bunker    Hill 

Address   125 

June  17,  1825 

Daniel  Webster   Reply  to  Hayne...     142 

January  26,  1830 

Abraham  Lincoln   Address  at  Cooper 

Institute  152 

February  2j,  i860 

Edward  D.  Baker         )  ~  T   ±  x.     rjr  , 

John  C.  Breckenridge  \ Dehate  on  the  War  '  l69 

August  1,  1861 

John  Bright    The  Trent  Affair. .     178 

December  4,  1861 

Henry  Ward  Beecher • Speech  at  Liverpool    187 

October  16,  1863 
v 


vi  CONTENTS 


PAUH 


Abraham  Lincoln   The  Speech  at  Get- 
tysburg       199 

November  19,  1863 

Abraham  Lincoln   The      Second      In- 
augural         202 

March  4,  1865 

Henry  W.  Grady  The  New  South . . .     206 

December  12,  1886 

Theodoxv£  Roosevelt  The  Strenuous  Life    213 

April  10,  1899 

H.  H.  Asquith   The  Call  to  Arms. .     225 

September  5,  1914 

Woodrow  Wilson   Message    to    Con- 
gress        239 

April  2,  1917 

David  Lloyd  George The     Meaning     of 

America's       En- 
trance    into     the 

War    254 

April  12,  1917 

Woodrow  Wilson   Flag  Day  Speech. .     262 

June  14,  1917 

Otto  H.  Kahn  Prussianized     Ger- 
many          272 

September  26,  191 7 

Woodrow  Wilson   Address    at    Balti- 
more      280 

April  6,  1918 

Charles  E.  Hughes Limitation    of    Ar- 
mament         287 

November  12,  1921 
Lives  and  Notes  302 


INTRODUCTION 

The  war  with  Germany  has  brought  to  the  minds  of 
the  people  a  new  interest  in  the  problems  of  our  na- 
tional life  and  a  deeper  understanding  of  the  meaning 
and  aims  of  democracy.  A  widespread  desire  to 
stimulate  intelligent  patriotism  through  exposition  of 
our  national  ideals  and  study  of  the  world's  progress 
toward  popular  government  is  everywhere  manifesting 
itself.  As  the  time  is  opportune  for  this  movement 
all  good  citizens  should  do  their  utmost  to  encourage 
it.  In  the  past  soap-box  orators,  dreamy-eyed  pacifists, 
and  unpatriotic  teachers  of  the  type  of  the  Russian 
internationalists,  have  insidiously  attacked  and  under- 
mined the  patriotism  of  our  citizens  both  young  and 
old.  The  time  has  come  to  end  such  propaganda. 
Our  new  citizens  must  learn  that  it  was  not  unoccu- 
pied land  nor  the  Indians  that  made  America  a  free 
country.  How  painfully  the  human  race  has  won  the 
liberty  under  which  we  live;  what  it  cost  in  money, 
endeavor,  and  blood,  it  is  the  manifest  duty  of  live 
men  now  to  teach  everywhere. 

In  schools  and  colleges  instruction  in  patriotism 
can  well  be  based  on  a  study  of  the  great  speeches 
which  step  by  step  mark  the  world's  progress  toward 
democracy.  Here  we  find  literature  and  history  com- 
bined. Here  the  many  facts  and  truths  of  history  are 
not  only  still  lighted  with  the  spirit  of  the  past  but 
they  are  also  clothed  with  the  language  of  art.  Just 
as  battles  record  for  the  student  of  military  science  the 
crises  and  conclusions  of  physical  struggles   for  the 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

world's  freedom,  so  great  speeches  mark  for  the 
statesman  and  thinker  the  triumphs  of  mind  and  spirit 
in  their  struggles  with  the  foes  of  progress. 

For  the  use  of  young  and  imaginative  students  the 
best  record  of  history  is  found  in  the  speeches  that 
helped  make  it.  Unfortunately  the  record  is  incom- 
plete. But  where  speeches  exist  marking  the  crises 
through  which  the  world  has  passed  in  its  progress 
towards  popular  government,  they  should  be  carefully 
preserved  and  studied  because  of  their  power  to  re- 
create the  past.  Speeches  give  more  than  conclusions. 
They  state  the  problem  and  suggest  a  solution  which 
for  the  time  being  is  wavering  in  the  balance.  As  the 
student  reads  the  words  of  the  orator,  he  is  able  to 
enter  personally  into  the  struggle.  He  weighs  the 
interests  that  are  at  stake  and  trembles  for  the  re- 
sult. As  he  reads  speech  after  speech  he  discovers 
that  liberty  is  not  a  matter  of  course,  but  has  been 
wrung  from  enemies  bit  by  bit  through  blood  and 
sweat.  Through  the  words  of  the  orator  he  learns 
to  value  the  inheritance  handed  down  to  him  from 
the  past  and  gains  a  personal  appreciation  of  the  serv- 
ices of  those  master  minds  whose  heroic  struggles 
have  helped  to  make  the  world  safe   for  him. 

Speeches  are  real  and  intense  dramas  of  life  and 
history.  The  orator  often  faces  opposition  as  relent- 
less as  a  play  hero  is  supposed  to  meet  in  his  make- 
believe  world.  When  a  great  orator  prepares  to 
speak,  he  takes  into  consideration  all  the  elements  of 
his  audience  and  the  occasion.  He  plans  by  making 
use  of  every  resource  in  his  power  to  meet  the  forces 
of  evil  as  they  assail  him,  step  by  step.  He  may  fail ; 
but  if  his  cause  is  essential  to  the  progress  of  liberty 
and  democracy,  the  contest  is  not  lost.  Another  hero 
takes  up  the  struggle  and ,  sooner  or  later  wins ;  for 


INTRODUCTION  k 

civilization  is  ever  moving  toward  something  better 
and  will  continue  to  do  so  irresistibly.  The  best 
record  of  many  of  the  most  important  events  in  his- 
tory is  found  in  the  world's  great  speeches  and  their 
dramatic  environment. 

The  chief  characteristic  of  speeches,  as  compared 
with  other  forms  of  literature  or  other  documents 
that  record  history,  is  that  the  end  and  aim  of  speeches 
is  action.  Founded  on  the  past,  they  look  always  into 
the  future.  The  giving  of  information,  the  gratifica- 
tion of  artistic  desire,  inspiration  itself,  are  of  minor 
importance  in  oratory  unless  they  influence  conduct. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  orator,  in  the  face  of  opposition, 
to  induce  men  to  adopt  a  new  course  of  action.  This 
is  true  even  on  those  occasions  when  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  men  are  apparently  not  at  stake.  Con- 
servatism, sloth,  and  greed  are  often  as  hard  to  com- 
bat as  visible  enemies.  Webster  found  it  quite  as  diffi- 
cult to  induce  his  fellow-citizens  to  emulate  in  their 
daily  lives  the  deeds  of  the  men  who  fought  at  Bunker 
Hill,  as  he  did  to  vanquish  Hayne  and  his  associates 
in  Congress  when  they  threatened  to  overthrow  the 
Union.  Beecher's  most  difficult  task  at  Liverpool  was 
not  to  control  his  visible  opponents  who  sought  to 
break  up  the  meeting,  but  to  induce  his  hearers  to 
forego  their  own  personal  profit  for  the  sake  of 
moral  ideals.  The  purpose  of  every  orator  is  to  in- 
duce men,  in  spite  of  opposition  visible  or  invisible, 
to  enter  upon  a  new  course  of  action.  The  essential 
characteristic  of  oratory  is  persuasion. 

The  speeches  contained  in  this  volume  clearly  illus- 
trate the  fact  that  persuasion  is  the  end  and  aim  of 
oratory.  These  speeches  helped  to  make  the  world  safe 
for  democracy,  not  through  arguments  that  convinced 
the  intellect,  but  through  persuasive  appeals  that  led 


x  INTRODUCTION 

to  action.  The  skill  with  which  an  orator  adapts 
his  methods  of  appeal  to  his  audience  determines  the 
force  of  his  oratory.  As  a  means  of  persuasion,  argu- 
ment is  to  be  reckoned  with  tone,  with  gesture,  with 
allusion,  and  with  all  the  various  forms  of  connota- 
tion. It  may  be  chief  among  these;  but  if  it  stands 
alone  and  is  not  emotionally  persuasive ;  it  is  dead.  A 
brilliant  speaker  may  win  our  intellectual  assent  for 
each  idea  he  advances,  we  may  perceive  the  desirabil- 
ity of  every  reform  he  advocates,  and  yet  we  may  not 
be  moved  to  initiate  one  reform  or  to  correct  one 
existing  abuse.  Through  argument  an  orator  may  win 
the  consent  of  the  intellect;  he  can  never  subdue  the 
will  or  lead  to  action  until  he  appeals  to  the  emotions. 

The  significance  of  this  fact  is  neglected  in  schools 
and  colleges,  although  it  is  duly  appreciated  in  business 
and  in  the  world  generally.  The  salesman  and  the 
advertiser  attempt  to  subdue  the  will  without  being 
controversial.  The  business  man  is  suspicious  of  argu- 
ment, but  he  is  the  friend  of  persuasion.  Teachers, 
on  the  other  hand,  have  almost  crowded  persuasion 
from  the  rhetorics  and  the  schools.  As  an  aspect  of 
discourse,  it  has  received  unmerited  neglect,  and  argu- 
ment has  been  unduly  stressed. 

In  the  study  of  Burke,  for  example,  we  have  for 
years  made  exhaustive  analyses  of  his  argument.  We 
have  followed  the  course  of  his  logic  to  the  smallest 
capillary  of  evidence.  At  this  moment  the  argumentive 
skeleton  of  his  discourse  is  carefully  housed  in  many 
a  teacher's  closet.  Such  a  study  may  not  have  been 
unprofitable,  but  it  is  better  and  more  interesting  to 
place  the  emphasis  of  our  work  in  stating  the  persua- 
sive problem  that  Burke  faced,  in  observing  the  degree 
of  skill  that  he  used  in  attempting  a  solution,  in  noting 
the  changes  in  conduct  that  he  brought  about,  and 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

in  pointing  out  the  help  that  he  gave  in  the  world's 
struggle  for  democracy. 

The  teacher  who  uses  this  volume,  therefore, 
should  try  to  lay  before  his  pupils  whatever  is  neces^ 
sary  to  a  dramatic  conception  of  the  occasion.  The 
famous  words  should  again  be  illumined  with  life 
and  reality.  He  should  attempt  to  recreate  the  situa- 
tion that  called  forth  the  speech  and  make  his  pupils 
clearly  understand  the  problem  that  was  before  the 
orator  when  he  rose  to  speak.  The  exact  nature  and 
force  of  the  opposition,  and  whatever  defines  the  audi- 
ence and  gives  it  its  character  and  sympathies,  should 
also  be  clear.  With  this  data  at  his  disposal,  the  stu- 
dent will  be  in  a  position  both  to  appreciate  the  orator's 
skill  in  adapting  his  appeal  to  the  prejudices  and  mo- 
tives of  his  hearers  and  to  understand  his  place  in 
history. 

In  order  that  the  final  appreciation  of  the  student 
may  approach  as  nearly  as  possible  to  that  of  an  intel- 
ligent member  of  the  audience  that  listened  to  the 
message  of  the  orator  when  it  was  first  spoken,  the 
teacher  should  use  each  speech  as  a  basis  for  exercises 
in  oral  English.  Through  oral  reading  or  declamation 
the  class  should  discover  that  an  oration  cannot  make 
its  complete  appeal  as  written  literature.  No  small 
part  of  the  orator's  message  is  transmitted  through  his 
voice  and  presence. 

The  supreme  object  of  the  study  of  these  speeches, 
we  must  remember,  is  not  mere  increased  facility  in 
English,  important  as  that  is,  but  fuller  appreciation 
of  the  worth  of  democracy  and  deeper  devotion  to  the 
duties  of  citizenship.  Students  who  learn  the  signifi- 
cance in  history  of  each  of  the  great  men  whose  words 
appear  in  this  book,  ought  not  to  be  satisfied  with  an 
intellectual  assimilation  of  our  national  ideals  or  with 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

a  passive  pride  in  our  country's  achievements.  The 
persuasive  utterances  that  in  the  past  induced  men  to 
struggle  for  liberty  and  democracy,  should  in  the 
hands  of  loyal  and  enthusiastic  teachers  be  able  to 
inspire  students  with  patriotism  of  a  dynamic  type. 
Pupils  should  learn  from  these  speeches  that  govern- 
ments that  are  democratic  require  from  their  citizens 
more  than  passive  loyalty.  Since  the  modern  state  is 
the  people,  the  effective  force  of  the  state  can  be  no 
greater  than  the  sum  of  the  public  activity  of  its  citi- 
zens. The  final  result  of  the  study  of  the  dramatic 
struggles  recorded  in  this  book,  therefore,  should  be 
the  conclusion  on  the  part  of  pupils,  that  active  co- 
operation in  public  affairs,  is  the  best  evidence  of  ap- 
preciation of  the  inheritance  that  has  come  down  to  us 
from  the  conflicts  and  heroism  of  other  days. 


LANDMARKS  OF  LIBERTY 


"Let  your  imagination  range  down  the  old  famous  roads  of 
freedom.  Powers  of  moral  quickening  come  from  communion 
with  ancient  heroism.  I  take  delight  in  the  Old  Testament  story 
which  tells  of  a  dead  man  being  let  down  into  the  sepulchre  of 
the  prophet  Elisha.  '  And  when  he  touched  the  bones  of  Elisha 
the  man  revived  and  stood  upon  his  feet.'  Whatever  we  may 
think  of  that  story  it  is  pregnant  with  moral  and  spiritual  sig- 
nificance. It  proclaims  the  vitalizing  energies  of  the  great  and 
noble  dead.  We  touch  our  heroic  ancestry  and  invigorating 
virtue  flows  out  of  them  And  so,  in  these  tremendous  days  of 
anxious  and  protracted  conflict,  let  us  let  ourselves  down  into 
the  sacred  sepulchres  of  history,  and  seek  communion  with  the 
honored  dead.  Let  us  touch  the  bones  of  Lincoln  if  perchance 
we  may  be  revived  and  stand  upon  our  feet.  Let  our  minds  and 
hearts  sink  down  into  his  letters  and  speeches  so  that  his  vision 
may  inspire  our  imaginations  and  his  motives  fortify  our  souls. 
And  let  us  touch  the  bones  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  for  he  being 
dead  yet  speaketh,  and  his  words  are  spirit  and  life.  Let  us 
seek  inspiration  at  great  historic  fonts.  Seeing  that  we  are  com- 
passed about  by  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  the  faithful 
knightly  warriors  of  other  days,  let  us  nerve  our  hearts  in  their 
heroisms,  let  us  feed  our  wills  on  their  exploits,  and  then  with 
their  virtuous  blood  running  in  our  own  veins,  let  us  bravely 
turn  to  face  the  task  and  the  menace  of  our  own  day." 

John  Henry  Jowett 


WRITS  OF  ASSISTANCE 

February,  1761 

America  was  settled  largely  by  people  who  left  their 
native  lands  in  order  to  secure  a  greater  degree  of  re- 
ligious and  political  liberty.  In  the  New  World,  sepa- 
rated by  three  thousand  miles  from  the  autocratic 
governments  of  Europe,  they  naturally  found  little 
reason  to  relinquish  this  love  of  freedom.  In  the 
leisure  hours  of  the  long  winters  many  read  the  writ- 
ings of  Locke,  Rousseau,  and  other  authors  who  have 
set  forth  the  ideals  of  democracy.  Accordingly  there 
gradually  grew  up  in  America,  in  addition  to  the  com- 
mon desire  for  practical  political  liberty,  a  widespread 
interest  in  the  abstract  theory  of  rights  and  govern- 
ment. ""•-* 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  natural  that  the 
thirteen  colonies  under  British  rule  resented  fiercely 
any  interference  with  their  personal  rights.  Especially 
after  the  French  and  Indian  War  the  colonists  were 
not  only  alert  to  criticize  any  act  of  Parliament  that 
promised  to  imperil  the  liberty  under  which  they  had 
lived,  but  they  also  sought  by  such  means  as  were 
within  their  power  to  obtain  for  the  colonial  assem- 
blies new  concessions  and  grants.  At  first  they  were 
content  to  build  up  their  rights  within  the  English 
Constitution  and  they  had  no  thought  of  separation 
from  the  Mother  Country.  As  late  as  the  end  of  1774 
the  Continental  Congress  in  a  petition  to  the  King  ex- 
pressed its  desire  to  conform  in  all  respects  to  the 

3 


4  WRITS  OF  ASSISTANCE 

British  Constitution.  The  colonial  troops  carried  the 
King's  colors  as  their  flag  until  1777.  Indeed  it  is 
said  that  until  near  the  close  of  the  Revolution  inde- 
pendence was  advocated  only  by  an  aggressive 
minority. 

James  Otis's  speech  against  the  use  of  writs  of  as- 
sistance, in  Boston,  in  1761,  marks  the  beginning  of 
the  struggle  in  which  as  yet  the  colonists  sought 
merely  the  rights  of  Englishmen.  The  dispute  with 
England  originated  in  an  attempt  to  regulate  American 
commerce.  The  Navigation  Acts  of  the  British  Parlia- 
ment had  required  Americans  to  trade  with  the  Eng- 
lish only,  and  consequently  to  import  only  goods  which 
paid  a  duty  to  the  Mother  Country.  Both  to  avoid  the 
expense  of  these  duties  and  as  a  protest  against  the 
injustice  of  the  trade  laws  the  colonists  had  en- 
couraged smuggling  and  had  carried  on  an  illicit  trade 
with  the  Dutch.  Not  half  the  goods  imported  into 
America  paid  the  duty.  It  cost  the  British  government 
$35,000  to  collect  a  revenue  of  $7,500.  John  Adams 
estimated  that  the  loss  of  revenue  by  smuggling  on 
molasses  alone  was  $125,000  a  year. 

In  1 761,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  evidence  that 
would  convict  the  smugglers,  the  British  government 
invoked  writs  of  assistance.  These  writs  had  previ- 
ously been  used  for  other  purposes  in  both  England 
and  America  but  had  fallen  into  disuse.  They  were 
general  warrants  that  in  spite  of  the  common  law  pro- 
tecting the  privacy  of  a  man's  home,  authorized  cus- 
toms agents  to  make  "  diligent  and  complete  "  search 
of  the  property  of  suspected  persons. 

The  advocate  general  at  this  time  whose  duty  it 
was  as  the  representative  of  the  British  Crown  to  sup- 
port the  writs  of  assistance  was  James  Otis.  He  was 
not  only  a  lawyer  of  great  ability,  but  he  was  a  man 


WRITS  OF  ASSISTANCE  5 

of  lofty  principle  and  was  a  commanding  figure  among 
the  colonists.  That  he  might  be  free  to  oppose  the 
dangerous  and  detested  writs,  he  resigned  his  office. 
In  their  favor,  however,  his  successor,  Jeremy  Gridley, 
presented  an  argument  to  a  court  who  sat  under  Gov- 
ernor Hutchinson  in  the  council  chamber  of  the  old 
Town  House,  Boston.  About  the  massive  table  were 
ranged  the  five  judges,  clad  in  their  rich  robes  of 
scarlet  English  broadcloth  and  wearing  their  large 
cambric  bands  and  immense  judicial  wigs.  Behind 
them  were  full  length  portraits  of  Charles  II  and  James 
II  arrayed  in  royal  splendor.  After  Gridley  had 
spoken,  Oxenbridge  Thatcher  gave  the  argument  for 
the  people.  Then  Otis,  the  former  officer  of  the 
Crown,  arose  to  support  Thatcher.  The  words  of 
Adams  gave  most  adequately  the  effect  of  his  speech : 

<<LOtis  was  a  flame  of  fire !  With  a  promptitude  of 
classical  allusions,  a  depth  of  research,  a  rapid  sum- 
mary of  historical  events  and  dates,  a  profusion  of 
legal  authorities,  a  prophetic  glance  of  his  eye  into 
futurity,  and  a  torrent  of  impetuous  eloquence,  he  hur- 
ried away  everything  before  him.  American  inde- 
pendence was  then  and  there  born ;  the  seeds  of  patriots 
and  heroes  was  then  and  there  sown.  Every  man  of 
a  crowded  audience  appeared  to  go  away,  as  I  did, 
ready  to  take  up  arms  against  the  writs  of  assistance. 
Then  and  there  was  the  first  scene  of  the  first  act  of 
opposition  to  the  arbitrary  claims  of  Great  Britain." 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  speech  Otis  immediately 
found  himself  the  leader  of  public  thought  in  New 
England  and  the  champion  of  constitutional  rights  in 
the  colonies. 


6  JAMES  OTIS 

WRITS  OF  ASSISTANCE 

James  Otis 

May  it  please  your  honors,  I  was  desired  by  one  of  the 
court  to  look  into  the  books,  and  consider  the  question 
now  before  them  concerning  writs  of  assistance.  I  have, 
accordingly,  considered  it,  and  now  appear  not  only  in 
obedience  to  your  order,  but  likewise  in  behalf  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  town,  who  have  presented  another 
petition,  and  out  of  regard  to  the  liberties  of  the  subject. 
And  I  take  this  opportunity  to  declare  that,  whether 
under  a  fee  or  not  (for  in  such  a  cause  as  this  I  despise  a 
fee),  I  will  to  my  dying  day  oppose  with  all  the  powers 
and  faculties  God  has  given  me  all  such  instruments  of 
slavery  on  the  one  hand,  and  villainy  on  the  other,  as 
this  writ  of  assistance  is. 

It  appears  to  me  the  worst  instrument  of  arbitrary 
power,  the  most  destructive  of  English  liberty  and  the 
fundamental  principles  of  law,  that  was  ever  found  in 
an  English  law  book.  I  must,  therefore,  beg  your 
honors'  patience  and  attention  to  the  whole  range  of 
argument *  that  may,  perhaps,  appear  uncommon  in  many 
things,  as  well  as  the  points  of  learning  that  are  more 
remote  and  unusual;  that  the  whole  tendency  of  my  de- 
sign may  the  more  easily  be  perceived,  the  conclusions 
better  descend,  and  the  force  of  them  be  better  felt. 

I  shall  not  think  much  of  my  pains  in  this  cause,  as  I 
engaged  in  it  from  principle.2  I  was  solicited  to  argue 
this  cause  as  advocate-general;  and  because  I  would  not, 
I  have  been  charged  with  desertion  from  my  office.  To 
this  charge  I  can  give  a  very  sufficient  answer.  I  re- 
nounced that  office,  and  I  argue  this  cause  from  the  same 
principle;  and  I  argue  it  with  the  greater  pleasure,  as 


WRITS  OF  ASSISTANCE  7 

it  is  in  favor  of  British  liberty,  at  the  time  when  we 
hear  the  greatest  monarch  upon  earth  declaring  from  his 
throne  that  he  glories  in  the  name  of  Briton,  and  that  the 
privileges  of  his  people  are  dearer  to  him  than  the  most 
valuable  prerogatives  of  his  crown;  and  as  it  is  in  oppo- 
sition to  a  kind  of  power,  the  exercise  of  which,  in  former 
periods  of  history,  cost  one  king  of  England  his  head  3 
and  another  his  throne.  I  have  taken  more  pains  in  this 
cause  than  I  ever  will  take  again,  although  my  engaging 
in  this  and  another  popular  cause  has  raised  much  resent- 
ment. But  I  think  that  I  can  sincerely  declare  that  I 
cheerfully  submit  myself  to  every  odious  name  for  con- 
science's sake ;  and  from  my  soul  I  despise  all  those  whose 
guilt,  malice,  or  folly  has  made  them  my  foes.  Let  the 
consequences  be  what  they  will,  I  am  determined  to 
proceed.  The  only  principles  of  public  conduct  that  are 
worthy  of  a  gentleman  or  a  man  are  to  sacrifice  estate, 
ease,  health,  and  applause,  and  even  life,  to  the  sacred 
calls  of  his  country. 

These  manly  sentiments,  in  private  life,  make  the 
good  citizen;  in  public  life,  the  patriot  and  the  hero.  I 
do  not  say  that  when  brought  to  the  test  I  shall  be  in- 
vincible. I  pray  God  I  may  never  be  brought  to  the 
melancholy  trial;  but  if  I  ever  should,  it  will  be  then 
known  how  far  I  can  reduce  to  practice  principles  which 
I  know  to  be  founded  in  truth.  In  the  meantime  I  will 
proceed  to  the  subject  of  this  writ. 

Your  honors  will  find  in  the  old  books  concerning  the 
office  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  precedents  of  general  war- 
rants to  search  suspected  houses.  But  in  more  modern 
books  you  will  find  only  special  warrants  to  search  such 
and  such  houses,  specially  named,  in  which  the  com- 
plainant has  before  sworn  that  he  suspects  his  goods  are 
concealed ;  and  will  find  it  adjudged  that  special  warrants 
only  are  legal.     In  the  same  manner  I  rely  on  it,  that  the 


8  JAMES  OTIS 

writ  prayed  for  id  this  petition,  being  general,  is  illegal. 
It  is  a  power  that  places  the  liberty  of  every  man  in  the 
hands  of  every  petty  officer.  I  say  that  I  admit  that 
special  writs  of  assistance  to  search  special  places,  may 
be  granted  to  certain  persons  on  oath;  but  I  deny  that 
the  writ  now  prayed  for  can  be  granted,  for  I  beg  leave  to 
make  some  observations  on  the  writ  itself  before  I  pro- 
ceed to  other  acts  of  Parliament. 

In  the  first  place,  the  writ  is  universal,  being  directed 
"  to  all  and  singular  justices,  sheriffs,  constables,  and  all 
other  officers  and  subjects;"  so  that,  in  short,  it  is  directed 
to  every  subject  in  the  king's  dominions.  Every  one  with 
this  writ  may  be  a  tyrant;  if  this  commission  is  legal,  a 
tyrant  in  a  legal  manner,  also,  may  control,  imprison,  or 
murder  any  one  within  the  realm. 

In  the  next  place,  it  is  perpetual;  there  is  no  return. 
A  man  is  accountable  to  no  person  for  his  doings.  Every 
man  may  reign  secure  in  his  petty  tyranny,  and  spread 
terror  and  desolation  around  him,  until  the  trump  of 
the  archangel  shall  excite  different  emotions  in  his  soul. 

In  the  third  place,  a  person  with  this  writ,  in  the  day- 
time may  enter  all  houses,  shops,  etc.,  at  will,  and  com- 
mand all  to  assist  him. 

Fourthly,  by  this  writ,  not  only  deputies,  etc.,  but  even 
their  menial  servants,  are  allowed  to  lord  it  over  us. 
What  is  this  but  to  have  the  curse  of  Canaan  4  with  a 
witness  on  us;  to  be  the  servant  of  servants,  the  most 
despicable  of  God's  creation? 

Now  one  of  the  most  essential  branches  of  English  lib- 
erty is  the  freedom  of  one's  house.  A  man's  house  is  his 
castle;  and  while  he  is  quiet,  he  is  as  well  guarded  as  a 
prince  in  his  castle.  This  writ,  if  it  should  be  declared 
legal,  would  totally  annihilate  this  privilege.  Custom- 
house officers  may  enter  our  houses  when  they  please; 
we  are  commanded  to  permit  their  entry.     Their  menial 


WRITS  OF  ASSISTANCE  9 

servants  may  enter,  may  break  locks,  bars,  and  everything 
in  their  way;  and  whether  they  break  through  malice  or 
revenge,  no  man,  no  court  can  inquire.  Bare  suspicion 
without  oath  is  sufficient.  This  wanton  exercise  of  this 
power  is  not  a  chimerical  suggestion  of  a  heated  brain. 

I  will  mention  some  facts.  Mr.  Pew  had  one  of  these 
writs,  and  when  Mr.  Ware  succeeded  him,  he  endorsed 
this  writ  over  to  Mr.  Ware;  so  that  these  writs  are  nego- 
tiable from  one  officer  to  another,  and  so  your  honors 
have  no  opportunity  of  judging  the  persons  to  whom  this 
vast  power  is  delegated.  Another  instance  is  this:  Mr. 
Justice  Walley  had  called  this  same  Mr.  Ware  before 
him,  by  a  constable,  to  answer  for  a  breach  of  the  Sab- 
bath Day  Acts,  or  that  of  profane  swearing.  As  soon  as 
he  had  finished,  Mr.  Ware  asked  him  if  he  had  done.  He 
replied:  "  Yes."  "  Well,  then,"  said  Mr.  Ware,  "  I  will 
show  you  a  little  of  my  power.  I  command  you  to  permit 
me  to  search  your  house  for  uncustomed  goods ;  "  and 
went  on  to  search  the  house  from  the  garret  to  the  cellar, 
and  then  served  the  constable  in  the  same  manner!  But 
to  show  another  absurdity  in  this  writ,  if  it  should  be 
established,  I  insist  upon  it  that  every  person,  by  the  14th 
of  Charles  II,5  has  this  power  as  well  as  the  custom-house 
officers.  The  words  are:  "It  shall  be  lawful  for  any 
person  or  persons  authorized,"  etc.  What  a  scene  does 
this  open!  Every  man  prompted  by  revenge,  ill  humor, 
or  wantonness,  to  inspect  the  inside  of  his  neighbor's 
house,  may  get  a  writ  of  assistance.  Others  will  ask  it 
from  self-defense;  one  arbitrary  exertion  will  provoke  an- 
other, until  society  be  involved  in  tumult  and  in  blood.6 

In  a  brief  statement  tell  how  British  liberty,  according  to  Otis, 
was  threatened  by  the  use  of  writs  of  assistance. 

Discuss  the  principle  "  A  man's  house  is  his  castle."  Has  it 
any   recognition    in    modern    law? 

Was  Otis's  opposition  to  writs  of  assistance  based  chiefly  on 
financial,  constitutional  moral,  religious,  or  other  reasons? 


io  JAMES  OTIS 

Do  you  think  that  Otis  was  unnecessarily  alarmed? 

Do  you  think  that  Otis  was  considered  disloyal  by  most  Eng- 
lishmen of  his  time  who  were  familiar  with  his  speech? 

Do  you  think  that  Otis  himself  believed  that  he  was  acting 
the  part  of  a  loyal  British  subject  when  he  delivered  this  speech? 

Do  you  think  that  in  1761  Otis  seriously  considered  American 
independence  as  a  means  of  combating  injustice  such  as  re- 
sulted from  the  British  use  of  writs  of  assistance? 

How  did  Otis  come  to  occupy  so  prominent  a  place  in  the 
history  of  American  independence? 

Discuss  the  persuasive  value  of  Otis's  detailed  account  of  the 
operation  of  the  writs. 


AMERICAN  TAXATION 

January  14,   1766 

The  fact  that  the  British  government  had  found  it 
difficult  to  collect  revenue  from  the  colonies  even 
though  writs  of  assistance  were  used  did  not  deter 
George  III  and  his  ministers  from  continuing  to  at- 
tempt to  obtain  money  from  America.  Increased  taxes 
on  new  sources  of  revenue  were  a  necessity  for  the 
Empire. 

The  Seven  Years  War  had  increased  the  national 
debt  to  $700,000,000  and  it  had  become  necessary  to 
maintain  a  great  navy  and  large  standing  armies  in 
both  Europe  and  America.  Inasmuch  as  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  annual  budget  was  used  to  sup- 
port troops  to  overawe  the  Indians  and  maintain  the 
conquest  of  Canada  it  was  thought  reasonable  by 
Grenville,  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  that  the 
colonies  should  share  in  the  expense.  Accordingly 
he  proposed  the  Stamp  Act,  a  measure  designed  to 
raise  sufficient  money  to  pay  one-third  of  the  annual 
cost  of  maintaining  the  army  in  America. 

After  the  colonists  had  been  given  a  year  in  which 
to  consider  the  details  of  the  measure,  he  met  their 
agents  and  expressed  a  desire  to  alter  the  bill  if  he 
could  make  it  more  agreeable  to  their  wishes.  Benja- 
min Franklin  said  that  the  old  constitutional  method 
of  asking  the  assemblies  to  grant  funds  was  preferable 
to  the  system  of  involuntary  contribution  embodied  in 
the  Stamp  Act.    Grenville  replied  that  in  the  past  when 

11 


12  AMERICAN  TAXATION 

voluntary  grants  were  in  vogue  the  colonies  had  been 
unable  to  agree  on  the  proportion  of  expense  that  each 
should  bear,  a  fact  that  Franklin  could  not  deny. 
The  conference  ended  without  material  change  in  the 
proposed  bill  which  was  passed  by  the  House  of  Com- 
mons with  slight  opposition  in  March  1765. 

This  act  was  planned  to  furnish  a  revenue  of 
$300,000,  all  of  which  was  to  be  applied  toward  the 
support  of  troops  in  America.  The  bill,  however, 
was  received  by  the  colonists  with  great  indignation. 
They  were  willing  to  contribute  to  the  expenses  of  the 
Imperial  government,  if  the  King  would  ask  the  colo- 
nial assemblies  to  make  grants;  but  they  were  un- 
willing to  be  taxed  by  Parliament  so  long  as  they  were 
not  represented  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Accord- 
ingly the  Americans  refused  to  use  the  stamped  paper 
required  by  the  law  for  nearly  all  commercial  trans- 
actions. Business  practically  ceased.  Rioting  oc- 
curred in  many  cities,  and  criticism  of  the  policy  of  the 
British  ministry  became  daily  more  bitter. 

On  January  14,  1766,  when  Parliament  assembled, 
the  King's  speech  again  asserted  the  right  to  tax 
America.  Pitt  was  present  although  he  had  but  re- 
cently recovered  from  a  severe  illness.  Unfamiliar 
with  the  calendar,  because  of  his  absence  of  nearly  a 
year,  he  did  not  know  that  American  taxation  was 
to  be  considered;  but  when  the  subject  was  discussed, 
so  impressed  was  he  by  the  seriousness  of  the  moment 
that  he  spoke  extemporaneously  with  all  the  fire  that 
had  made  his  earlier  speeches  famous.  Many  years 
of  Parliamentary  service  and  continuous  study  of  con- 
ditions in  America,  made  his  words  authoritative.  His 
speech  produced  an  immediate  change  in  the  official 
attitude  toward  America ;  and  he  was  able  within  the 
next  few  weeks  so  to  organize  the  advocates  and  lovers 


AMERICAN  TAXATION  13 

of  English  liberty  that  on  March    18,   1766,  the  ob- 
noxious Stamp  Act  was  repealed. 


AMERICAN  TAXATION 

William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham 

It  is  a  long  time,  Mr.  Speaker,  since  I  have  attended  in 
Parliament.  When  the  resolution  was  taken  in  this  House 
to  tax  America,  I  was  ill  in  bed.  If  I  could  have  endured 
to  be  carried  1  in  my  bed — so  great  was  the  agitation  of 
my  mind  for  the  consequences — I  would  have  solicited 
some  kind  hand  to  have  laid  me  down  on  this  floor,  to 
have  borne  my  testimony  against  it!  It  is  now  an  act 
that  has  passed.  I  would  speak  with  decency  of  every 
act  of  this  House;  but  I  must  beg  the  indulgence  of  the 
House  to  speak  of  it  with  freedom. 

I  hope  a  day  may  soon  be  appointed  to  consider  the 
state  of  the  nation  with  respect  to  America.  I  hope  gen- 
tlemen will  come  to  this  debate  with  all  the  temper  and 
impartiality  that  his  majesty  recommends,2  and  the  im- 
portance of  the  subject  requires;3  a  subject  of  greater  im- 
portance than  ever  engaged  the  attention  of  this  House, 
that  subject  only  excepted,  when,  near  a  century  ago,  it 
was  the  question  whether  you  yourselves  were  to  be  bond 
or  free. 

I  will  only  speak  to  one  point — a  point  which  seems  not 
to  have  been  generally  understood,  I  mean  to  the  right. 
Some  gentlemen  seem  to  have  considered  it  as  a  point  of 
honor.  If  gentlemen  consider  it  in  that  light,  they  leave 
all  measures  of  right  and  wrong  to  follow  a  delusion  that 
may  lead  to  destruction.  It  is  my  opinion  that  thj^  king- 
dom has  no  right  to  lay  a  tax  upon  the  colonies.  At  the 
same  time,   I   assert  the  authority  of  this  kingdom  over 


14         WILLIAM  PITT,  EARL  OF  CHATHAM 

the  colonies  to  be  sovereign  and  supreme,  in  every  cir- 
cumstance of  government  and  legislation  whatsoever. 
They  are  the  subjects  of  this  kingdom,  equally  entitled 
with  yourselves  to  all  the  natural  rights  of  mankind  and 
the  peculiar  privileges  of  Englishmen;  equally  bound  by 
its  laws,  and  equally  participating  in  the  constitution  of 
this  free  country.  The  Americans  are  the  sons,  not  the 
bastards,  of  England !  Taxation  is  no  part  of  the  gov- 
erning or  legislative  power.  The  taxes  are  a  voluntary 
gift  and  grant  of  the  Commons  alone.  In  legislation  the 
three  estates  of  the  realm  are  alike  concerned ;  but  the 
concurrence  of  the  peers  and  the  Crown  to  tax  is  only 
necessary  to  clothe  it  with  the  form  of  a  law.  The  gift 
and  grant  is  of  the  Commons  alone. 

In  the  ancient  days,  the  Crown,  the*  barons,  and  the 
clergy  possessed  the  lands.  In  those  days,  the  barons 
and  the  clergy  gave  and  granted  to  the  Crown. 
They  gave  and  granted  what  was  their  own!  At 
present,  since  the  discovery  of  America,  and  other  cir- 
cumstances permitting,  the  Commons  are  become  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  la. id.  The  church  (God  bless  it!)  has  but 
a  pittance.  The  property  of  the  lords,  compared  with 
that  of  the  Commons,  is  a  drop  of  water  in  the  ocean ; 
and  this  House  represents  those  Commons,  the  proprietors 
of  the  lands;  and  those  proprietors  virtually  represent  the 
rest  of  the  inhabitants.  When,  therefore,  in  this  House 
we  give  and  grant,  we  give  and  grant  what  is  our  own. 
But  in  an  American  tax,  what  do  we  do?  "We,  your 
majesty's  Commons  for  Great  Britain,  give  and  grant  to 
your  majesty  " — what?  Our  own  property!  No!  "We 
give  and  grant  to  your  majesty  "  the  property  of  your 
majesty's  Commons  of  America!  It  is  an  absurdity  in 
terms^ 

The   distinction   between   legislation   and   taxation 4   is 
essentially  necessary  to  liberty.     The  crown  and  the  peers 


AMERICAN  TAXATION  13 

are  equally  legislative  powers  with  the  Commons.  If  tax- 
ation be  a  part  of  simple  legislation,  the  Crown  and  the 
peers  have  rights  in  taxation  as  well  as  yourselves;  rights 
which  they  will  claim,  which  they  will  exercise,  whenever 
the  principle  can  be  supported  by  power. 

There  is  an  idea  in  some  that  the  colonies  are  virtually 
represented  in  the  House.  I  would  fain  know  by  whom 
an  American  is  represented  here.  Is  he  represented  by 
any  knight  of  the  shire,  in  any  county  in  this  kingdom? 
Would  to  God  that  respectable  representation  was  aug- 
mented to  a  greater  number !  Or  will  you  tell  him  that  he 
is  represented  by  any  representative  of  a  borough? — a 
borough  which,  perhaps,  its  own  representative  never 
saw !  This  is  what  is  called  the  rotten  part  of  the  con- 
stitution. It  can  not  continue  a  century.  If  it  does  not 
drop,  it  must  be  amputated.  The  idea  of  a  virtual  rep- 
resentation 5  of  America  in  this  House  is  the  most  con- 
temptible idea  that  ever  entered  the  head  of  a  man.  It 
does  not  deserve  a  serious  refutation. 

The  Commons  of  America  represented  in  their  several 
assemblies  have  ever  been  in  possession  of  the  exercise  of 
this,  their  constitutional  right,  of  giving  and  granting 
their  own  money.  They  would  have  been  slaves  if  they 
had  not  enjoyed  it!  At  the  same  time,  this  kingdom,  as 
the  supreme  governing  and  legislative  power,  has  always 
bound  the  colonies  by  her  laws,  by  her  regulations,  and 
restrictions  in  trade,  in  navigation,  in  manufactures,  in 
every  thing  except  that  of  taking  their  money  out  of  then 
pockets  without  their  consent. 

Since  the  accession  of  King  William,  many  ministers, 
some  of  great,  others  of  more  moderate  abilities,  have 
taken  the  lead  of  government.  None  of  these  thought, 
or  even  dreamed,  of  robbing  the  colonies  of  their  constitu- 
tional rights.  That  was  reserved  to  mark  the  era  of  the 
rte  administration.     Not  that  there  were  wanting  some, 


16         WILLIAM  PITT,  EARL  OF  CHATHAM 

when  I  had  the  honor  to  serve  his  majesty,  to  propose  to 
me  to  burn  my  fingers  with  an  American  stamp  act. 
With  the  enemy  at  their  back,  with  our  bayonets  at  their 
breast,  in  the  day  of  their  distress,  perhaps  the  Americans 
would  have  submitted  to  the  imposition;  but  it  would 
have  been  taking  an  ungenerous,  an  unjust  advantage. 
The  gentleman  boasts  of  his  bounties  to  America!  Are 
not  these  bounties  intended  finally  for  the  benefit  of  this 
kingdom?  If  not,  he  has  misapplied  the  national 
treasures ! 

I  am  no  courtier  of  America.6  I  stand  up  for  this  king- 
dom. I  maintain  that  the  Parliament  has  a  right  to  bind, 
to  restrain  America.  Our  legislative  power  over  the  colo- 
nies is  sovereign  and  supreme.  When  it  ceases  to  be  sov- 
ereign and  supreme,  I  would  advise  every  gentleman  to 
sell  his  lands,  if  he  can,  and  embark  for  that  country. 
When  two  countries  are  connected  together  like  England 
and  her  colonies,  without  being  incorporated,  the  one 
must  necessarily  govern.  The  greater  must  rule  the  less. 
But  she  must  so  rule  it  as  not  to  contradict  the  funda- 
mental principles  that  are  common  to  both. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  without  doors  of  the  power, 
the  strength  of  America.  It  is  a  topic  that  ought  to  be 
cautiously  meddled  with.  In  a  good  cause,  on  a  sound 
bottom,  the  force  of  this  country  can  crush  America  to 
atoms.  I  know  the  valor  of  your  troops.  I  know  the 
skill  of  your  officers.  There  is  not  a  company  of  foot 
that  has  served  in  America  out  of  which  you  may  not  pick 
a  man  of  sufficient  knowledge  and  experience  to  make  a 
governor  of  a  colony  there.  But  on  this  ground,  on  the 
Stamp  Act,  which  so  many  here  will  think  a  crying  in- 
justice, I  am  one  who  will  lift  up  my  hands  against  it. 

In  such  a  cause  your  success  would  be  hazardous. 
America,  if  she  fell,  would  fall  like  the  strong  man;  she 
would  embrace  the  pillars  of  the  state  and  pull  down  the 


AMERICAN  TAXATION  17 

Constitution  with  her.  Is  this  your  boasted  peace — not 
to  sheathe  the  sword  in  the  scabbard,  but  to  sheathe  it  in 
the  bowels  of  your  countrymen?  Will  you  quarrel  with 
yourselves,  now  the  whole  house  of  Bourbon  7  is  united 
against  you ;  while  France  disturbs  your  fisheries  in  New- 
foundland, embarrasses  your  slave  trade  to  Africa,  and 
withholds  from  your  subjects  in  Canada  their  property 
stipulated  by  treaty;  while  the  ransom  for  the  Manilas 
is  denied  by  Spain,  and  its  gallant  conqueror  basely  tra- 
duced into  a  mean  plunderer — a  gentleman  whose  noble 
and  generous  spirit  would  do  honor  to  the  proudest 
grandee  of  the  country? 

The  Americans  have  not  acted  in  all  things  with  pru- 
dence and  temper;  they  have  been  wronged;  they  have 
been  driven  to  madness  by  injustice.  Will  you  punish 
them  for  the  madness  you  have  occasioned?  Rather  let 
prudence  and  temper  come  first  from  this  side.  I  will 
undertake  for  America  that  she  will  follow  the  example. 
*Upon  the  whole,  I  will  beg  leave  to  tell  the  House 
what  is  my  opinion.  It  is,  that  the  Stamp  Act  be  repealed 
absolutely,  totally,  and  immediately.  That  the  reason  for 
the  repeal  be  assigned — viz.,  because  it  was  founded  on 
an  erroneous  principle.  At  the  same  time,  let  the  sover- 
eign authority  of  this  country  over  the  colonies  be  as- 
serted in  as  strong  terms  as  can  be  devised,  and  be  made 
to  extend  to  every  point  of  legislation  whatsoever;  that 
we  may  bind  their  trade,  confine  their  manufactures,  and 
exercise  every  power  whatsoever,  except  that  of  taking 
money  from  their  pockets  without  their  consent.  ^ 

What  does  Chatham  recognize  as  the  supreme  legal  authority 
and  source  of  law  for  both  England  and  America? 

What  were  Chatham's  reasons  for  considering  the  taxation  of 
America  the  most  important  question  that  had  come  before  the 
House  of  Commons  since  the  days  of  the  Stuarts? 

What  is  the  distinction  made  by  Chatham  between  the  right  to 
tax  and  the  right  to  legislate? 


1 8         WILLIAM  PITT,  EARL  OF  CHATHAM 

Does  modern  law  recognize  this  distinction? 

Point  out  persuasive  elements  in  Chatham's  speech.  Did  he 
understand  the  temper  of  Englishmen? 

What  statements  in  the  last  paragraph  show  that  he  did  not 
understand  the  temper  of  Americans? 

What  evidence  is  there  in  Chatham's  speech  that  a  movement 
for  the  independence  of  America  was  already  under  way? 


WAR  WITH  AMERICA 

February  6,  1775 

The  favorable  impression  created  by  the  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act  was  largely  destroyed  by  the  passage  soon 
after  of  the  Declaratory  Act  in  which  Parliament  laid 
no  import  or  duty  but  asserted  its  right  to  tax 
America.  This  action  was  a  colossal  blunder,  inas- 
much as  it  ignored  the  fact  that  the  Americans  had 
not  refused  to  furnish  money  to  support  the  govern- 
ment but  had  denied  this  very  "  right  "  of  taxation 
which  now  was  expressly  reaffirmed.  Before  the  end 
of  the  year,  also,  King  George  III,  who  had  no  sym- 
pathy with  the  democratic  aspirations  of  the  colonists, 
induced  Parliament  to  lay  new  duties  on  tea  and  other 
articles  imported  by  the  Americans. 

Continued  disorder  in  America  and  decreasing  trade 
again  brought  about  the  repeal  in  March,  1770,  of  all 
these  duties  except  that  on  tea.  The  latter  duty  the 
King  determined  to  retain,  it  is  said,  from  a  desire  to 
"  try  the  question  with  America."  In  the  hope  of  mak- 
ing the  tax  more  acceptable  the  duty  was  reduced  to 
six  cents  a  pound,  which  permitted  tea  to  be  sold  in 
America  at  a  cheaper  price  than  in  England.  The 
colonists,  however,  who  were  seeking  a  democratic 
system  of  taxation  rather  than  low  taxes,  refused  to 
pay  the  decreased  duty.  A  mob  threw  four  ship  loads 
of  tea  into  Boston  harbor.  Incensed  with  their  lack 
of  respect  for  the  royal  authority,  the  King  induced 
Parliament  to  take  away  the  old  charter  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  to  pass  other  acts  of  a  drastic  nature. 

19 


20  JOHN  WILKES 

As  these  measures  threatened  to  destroy  English 
liberty  in  America,  concerted  action  on  the  part  of 
the  colonists  was  demanded.  On  September  i,  1774, 
the  Continental  Congress  met  ill  Philadelphia  and 
passed  resolutions  in  which  trade  with  England  was 
boj/cotted.  Nevertheless  in  a  very  calm  and  conciliat- 
ing Petition  to  the  King  the  Congress  once  more  re- 
affirmed its  loyalty  to  the  Empire  and  asserted  its 
willingness  to  pay  all  taxes  justly  levied  in  accordance 
with  the  English  Constitution.  Clashes  between  armed 
citizens  and  British  troops,  nevertheless,  had  already 
occurred  more  than  once.  On  February  6,  1775,  when 
John  Wilkes  rose  in  Parliament  to  speak  it  was  clearly 
evident  that  America  and  the  Mother  Country  were  on 
the  verge  of  war. 


WAR  WITH  AMERICA 

John  Wilkes 

I  am  surprised  that  in  a  business  of  so  much  moment  as 
this  before  the  House,  respecting  the  British  colonies  in 
America,  a  cause  which  comprehends  almost  every  ques- 
tion relative  to  the  common  rights  of  mankind,  almost 
every  question  of  policy  and  legislation,  it  should  be  re- 
solved to  proceed  with  so  little  circumspection,  or  rather 
with  so  much  precipitation  and  heedless  imprudence. 
With  what  temerity  are  we  assured  that  the  same  men 
who  have  been  so  often  overwhelmed  with  praises  for 
their  attachment  to  this  country,  for  their  forwardness  to 
grant  it  the  necessary  succors,  for  the  valor  they  have 
signalized  in  its  defense,  have  all  at  once  so  degenerated 
from  their  ancient  manners  as  to  merit  the  appellation  of 
seditious,   ungrateful,   impious    rebels!     But    if    such   a. 


WAR  WITH  AMERICA  21 

change  has,  indeed,  been  wrought  in  the  minds  of  this 
most:  loyal  people,  it  must  at  least  be  admitted  that  affec- 
tions so  extraordinary  could  only  have  been  produced  by 
some  very  powerful  cause.1  But  who  is  ignorant,  who 
needs  to  be  told  of  the  new  madness  that  infatuates  our 
ministers?  Who  has  not  seen  the  tyrannical  counsels  they 
have  pursued  for  the  last  ten  years?  They  would  now 
have  us  carry  to  the  foot  of  the  throne 2  a  resolution 
stamped  with  rashness  and  injustice,  fraught  with  blood, 
and  a  horrible  futurity.  But  before  this  be  allowed  them, 
before  the  signal  of  civil  war  be  given,  before  they  are 
permitted  to  force  Englishmen  to  sheathe  their  swords  in 
the  bowels  of  their  fellow-subjects,  I  hope  this  House 
will  consider  the  rights  of  humanity,  the  original  ground 
and  cause  of  the  present  dispute.  Have  we  justice  on  our 
side?  No;  assuredly  no.  He  must  be  altogether  a 
stranger  to  the  British  Constitution  who  does  not  know 
that  contributions  are  voluntary  gifts  of  the  people;  and 
singularly  blind  not  to  perceive  that  the  words  "  Liberty 
and  property  "  so  grateful  to  English  ears,  are  nothing 
better  than  mockery  and  insult  to  the  Americans,  if  their 
property  can  be  taken  without  their  consent.  And  what 
motive  can  there  exist  for  this  new  rigor,  for  these  ex- 
traordinary measures?  Have  not  the  Americans  always 
demonstrated  the  utmost  zeal  and  liberality  whenever 
their  succors  have  been  required  by  the  Mother  Country? 
In  the  last  two  wars  they  gave  you  more  than  you 
asked  for,  and  more  than  their  facilities  warranted ;  they 
were  not  only  liberal  toward  you,  but  prodigal  of  their 
substance.  They  fought  gallantly  and  victoriously  by 
your  side,  with  equal  valor,  against  our  and  their  enemy, 
the  common  enemy  of  the  liberties  of  Europe  and 
America,  the  ambitious  and  faithless  French,  whom  we 
now  fear  and  flatter.  And  even  now  at  a  moment  when 
you  are  planning  their  destruction,  when  you  are  brand- 


22  JOHN  WILKES 

ing  them  with  the  odious  appellation  of  rebels,  what  is 
their  language,  what  their  protestation?  Read,  in  the 
name  of  heaven,  the  late  petition  of  the  Congress  to  the 
King,  and  you  will  find  "  they  are  ready  and  willing,  as 
they  have  ever  been,  to  demonstrate  their  loyalty  by 
exerting  their  utmost  efforts  in  granting  supplies  and 
raising  forces  when  constitutionally  required."  And  yet 
we  hear  it  vociferated  by  some  inconsiderate  individuals 
that  the  Americans  wish  to  abolish  the  Navigation  Act; 
that  they  intend  to  throw  off  the  supremacy  of  Great 
Britain.  But  would  to  God  those  assertions  were  not 
rather  a  provocation  than  the  truth!  They  ask  nothing, 
for  such  are  the  words  of  their  petition,  but  for  peace, 
liberty,  and  safety.  They  wish  not  a  diminution  of  the 
royal  prerogative;  they  solicit  not  any  new  right.  They 
are  ready,  on  the  contrary,  to  defend  this  prerogative,  to 
maintain  the  royal  authority,  and  to  draw  closer  the  bonds 
of  their  connection  with  Great  Britain.  But  our  minis- 
ters, perhaps  to  punish  others  for  their  own  faults,  are 
sedulously  endeavoring,  not  only  to  relax  those  powerful 
ties,  but  to  dissolve  and  sever  them  forever.  Their  ad- 
dress represents  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  as  in  a 
state  of  actual  rebellion.  The  other  provinces  are  held 
out  to  our  indignation,  as  aiding  and  abetting.  Many 
arguments  have  been  employed  by  some  learned  gentle- 
men among  us  to  comprehend  them  all  in  the  same  of- 
fense, and  to  involve  them  all  in  the  same  proscription. 

Whether  their  present  state  is  that  of  rebellion,  or  of 
a  fit  and  just  resistance  to  unlawful  acts  of  power,  to 
our  attempts  to  rob  them  of  their  property  and  liberties, 
as  they  imagine,  I  shall  not  declare.  But  I  well  know 
what  will  follow,3  nor,  however  strange  and  harsh  it 
may  appear  to  some,  shall  I  hesitate  to  announce  it,  that 
I  may  not  be  accused  hereafter  of  having  failed  in  my 
duty  to  my  country,  on  so  grave  an  occasion,  and  at  the 


WAR  WITH  AMERICA  23 

approach  of  such  direful  calamities.  Know,  then,  a  suc- 
cessful resistance  is  a  revolution,  not  a  rebellion ;  rebel- 
lion, indeed,  appears  on  the  back  of  a  flying  enemy,  but 
revolution  flames  on  the  breastplate  of  the  victorious  war- 
rior. Who  can  tell  whether  in  consequence  of  this  day's 
violent  and  mad  address  to  his  majesty,  the  scabbard  may 
not  be  thrown  away  by  them,  as  well  as  by  us;  and 
whether  in  a  few  years  the  independent  Americans  may 
not  celebrate  the  glorious  era  of  the  Revolution  of  1775, 
as  we  do  that  of  1688?  The  generous  effort  of  our  fore- 
fathers for  freedom,  heaven  crowned  with  success,  or 
their  noble  blood  had  dyed  our  scaffolds,  like  that  of 
Scottish  traitors  and  rebels ;  and  the  period  of  our  history 
which  does  us  the  most  honor  would  have  been  deemed 
a  rebellion  against  the  lawful  authority  of  the  prince,  not 
a  resistance  authorized  by  all  the  laws  of  God  and  man, 
not  the  expulsion  of  a  detested  tyrant. 

I  can  no  more  comprehend  the  policy  than  acknowledge 
the  justice  of  your  deliberations.  Where  is  your  force, 
what  are  your  armies,  how  are  they  to  be  recruited,  and 
how  supported?  The  single  Province  of  Massachusetts 
has  at  this  moment  thirty  thousand  men,  well  trained  and 
disciplined,  and  can  bring  in  case  of  emergency  ninety 
thousand  into  the  field ;  and,  doubt  not  they  will  do  it, 
when  all  that  is  dear  is  at  stake,  when  forced  to  defend 
their  liberty  and  property  against  their  cruel  oppressors. 
The  right  honorable  gentleman  with  the  blue  riband  4 
assures  us  that  ten  thousand  of  our  troops  and  four  Irish 
regiments  will  make  their  brains  turn  in  the  head  a  little, 
and  strike  them  aghast  with  terror.  But  where  does  the 
author  of  this  exquisite  scheme  propose  to  send  his  army? 
Boston,  perhaps,  you  may  lay  in  ashes,  or  it  may  be  made 
a  strong  garrison ;  but  the  province  will  be  lost  to  you. 
You  will  hold  Boston  as  you  hold  Gibraltar,  in  the  midst 
of  a  country  which  will  not  be  yours;  the  whole  Ameri- 


24  JOHN  WILKES 

can  continent  will  remain  in  the  power  of  your  enemies. 
Where  your  fleets  and  armies  are  stationed,  the  possession 
will  be  secured  while  they  continue;  but  all  the  rest  will 
be  lost.  In  the  great  scale  of  empire,  you  will  decline,  I 
fear,  from  the  decision  of  this  day;  and  the  Americans 
will  rise  in  independence,  to  power,  to  all  the  greatness 
of  the  most  renowned  states — for  they  build  on  the  solid 
basis  of  general  public  liberty. 

How  according  to  Wilkes  were  the  Americans  provoked  to 
rebellion? 

What  rights  did  Wilkes  believe  the  colonies  wished  England 
to  grant  them? 

What  reason  did  Wilkes  give  for  believing  that  the  Ameri- 
cans would  gain  independence  and  rise  to  great  power? 

Did   his   prophecy   prove  true   in   all    details? 

To  what  motives  did  Wilkes   appeal  in  this  speech? 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA 

March  22,  1775 

As  the  objectionable  measures  suggested  by  King 
George  III  were  formulated  by  Lord  North's  ministry 
and  passed  one  after  another,  discontent  in  America 
steadily  increased.  With  a  fine  sarcasm  one  legisla- 
tive body  after  another  declared  that  the  colonies 
would  train  soldiers  in  order  to  save  the  Mother  Coun- 
try the  necessity  of  taxing  Americans  to  provide  troops 
for  their  defense.  In  nearly  all  the  provinces  com- 
panies of  soldiers  had  in  fact  been  equipped  and 
drilled. 

In  Parliament  Pitt,  Wilkes,  Barre,  and  others  had 
espoused  the  cause  of  America  in  vain.  The  King  and 
his  ministry  were  determined,  in  the  face  of  all  ex- 
pediency, to  assert  their  right  to  tax  America.  The 
most  that  Lord  North  was  willing  to  concede  was  that 
any  colony  should  be  exempted  from  taxation  if  it 
had  granted  for  the  common  defense  of  the  Empire  an 
amount  "  according  to  the  condition,  circumstances, 
and  situation  of  such  colony  "  satisfactory  to  the  Gov- 
ernment. Although  this  bill  conferred  on  the  assem- 
blies merely  the  form  of  making  grants  and  still  re- 
tained for  Parliament  the  right  of  taxation,  the 
measure  was  intended  to  be  conciliatory.  As  Parlia- 
ment seemed  for  the  moment  inclined  to  consider  a 
gentler  policy,  Burke  seized  the  opportunity  to  offer, 
on  March  22 ,  1775,  conciliatory  resolutions  that  met 
adequately  nearly  all  the  constitutional  demands  of  the 

25 


26  EDMUND  BURKE 

colonists.  The  partition  of  the  Empire  would  prob- 
ably have  been  avoided  had  not  the  House  of  Com- 
mons by  a  vote  of  270  to  78  rejected  his  proposals. 

Members  of  Parliament  who  listened  to  Burke's 
words  were  not  at  the  time  sufficiently  impressed  to 
lend  their  votes,  but  many,  after  perusal  of  the  printed 
speech,  when  it  was  too  late,  were  won  over  to  his 
views.  Fox,  an  orator  of  the  first  rank  and  a  con- 
temporary of  Burke  was  so  thoroughly  convinced  of 
the  justice  and  soundness  of  Burke's  plan  that  he 
urged  Members  of  Parliament  "  to  peruse  the  Speech 
on  Conciliation  again  and  again,  to  study  it,  to  imprint 
it  on  their  minds,  to  impress  it  on  their  hearts."  Al- 
though Burke's  speech  failed  to  secure  for  Americans 
the  rights  to  which  as  English  subjects  they  were 
entitled,  it  recorded  in  imperishable  form  the  prin- 
ciples of  a  just  and  generous  policy  that  must  here- 
after form  a  part  of  all  humane  and  enlightened 
government. 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA 
Edmund  Burke 

1.  I  hope,1  Sir,  that,  notwithstanding  the  austerity  of  the 
Chair,  your  good  nature  will  incline  you  to  some  degree  of  in- 
dulgence toward  human  frailty.  You  will  not  think  it  unnatural 
that  those  who  have  an  object  depending  which  strongly  engages 
their  hopes  and  fears  should  be  somewhat  inclined  to  super- 
stition. As  I  came  into  the  House,  full  of  anxiety  about  the 
event  of  my  motion,  I  found,  to  my  infinite  surprise,  that  the 
grand  penal  bill,  by  which  we  had  passed  sentence  on  the  trade 
and  sustenance  of  America,  is  to  be  returned  to  us  from  the 
other  House.  I  do  confess  I  could  not  help  looking  on  this 
event  as  a  fortunate  omen.  I  look  upon  it  as  a  sort  of  provi- 
dential favor  by  which  we  are  put  once  more  in  possession  of 
our  deliberative  capacity,  upon  a  business  so  very  questionable 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         27 

in  its  nature,  so  very  uncertain  in  its  issue.  By  the  return  of 
this  bill,  which  seemed  to  have  taken  its  flight  forever,  we  are 
at  this  very  instant  nearly  as  free  to  choose  a  plan  for  our 
American  government  as  we  were  on  the  first  day  of  the  session. 
If,  Sir,  we  incline  to  the  side  of  conciliation,  we  are  not  at 
all  embarrassed,  unless  we  please  to  make  ourselves  so,  by 
any  incongruous  mixture  of  coercion  and  restraint.  We  are 
therefore  called  upon,  as  it  were,  by  a  superior  warning  voice, 
again  to  attend  to  America;  to  attend  to  the  whole  of  it  to- 
gether; and  to  review  the  subject  with  an  unusual  degree  of 
care   and   calmness. 

2.  Surely  it  is  an  awful  subject,  or  there  is  none  so  on  this 
side  of  the  grave.  When  I  first  had  the  honor  of  a  seat  in 
this  House,  the  affairs  of  that  continent  pressed  themselves  upon 
us  as  the  most  important  and  most  delicate  object  of  parlia- 
mentary attention.  My  little  share  in  this  great  deliberation 
oppressed  me.  I  found  myself  a  partaker  in  a  very  high  trust; 
and  having  no  sort  of  reason  to  rely  on  the  strength  of  my 
natural  abilities  for  the  proper  execution  of  that  trust,  I  was 
obliged  to  take  more  than  common  pains  to  instruct  myself  in 
everything  which  relates  to  our  colonies.  I  was  not  less  under 
the  necessity  of  forming  some  fixed  ideas  concerning  the  general 
policy  of  the  British  Empire.  Something  of  this  sort  seemed  to 
be  indispensable,  in  order,  amidst  so  vast  a  fluctuation  of  pas- 
sions and  opinions,  to  concenter  my  thoughts,  to  ballast  my  con- 
duct, to  preserve  me  from  being  blown  about  by  every  wind  of 
fashionable  doctrine.  I  really  did  not  think  it  safe  or  manly 
to  have  fresh  principles  to  seek  upon  every  fresh  mail  which 
should   arrive  from  America. 

3.  At  that  period  I  had  the  fortune  to  find  myself  in  perfect 
concurrence  with  a  large  majority  in  thii  House.  Bowing  under 
that  high  authority,  and  penetrated  with  the  sharpness  and 
strength  of  that  early  impression,  I  have  continued  ever  since, 
without  the  least  deviation,  in  my  original  sentiments.  Whether 
this  be  owing  to  an  obstinate  perseverance  in  error,  or  to  a 
religious  adherence  to  what  appears  to  me  truth  and  reason, 
it  is  in  your  equity  to  judge. 

4.  Sir,  Parliament,  having  an  enlarged  view  of  objects,  made 
during  this  interval  more  frequent  changes  in  their  sentiments 
and  their  conduct  than  could  be  justified  in  a  particular  per- 
son upon  the  contracted  scale  of  private  information.  But 
though  I  do  not  hazard  anything  approaching  to  censure  on  the 


28  EDMUND  BURKE 

motives  of  former  parliaments  to  all  those  alterations,  one 
fact  is  undoubted — that  under  them  the  state  of  America  has 
been  kept  in  continual  agitation.  Everything  administered  as 
remedy  to  the  public  complaint,  if  it  did  not  produce,  was  at 
least  followed  by,  a  heightening  of  the  distemper;  until,  by  a 
variety  of  experiments,  that  important  country  has  been  brought 
into  her  present  situation — a  situation  which  I  will  not  miscall, 
which  I  dare  not  name,  which  I  scarcely  know  how  to  com- 
prehend in  the  terms  of  any  description. 

5.  In  this  posture,  Sir,  things  stood  at  the  beginning  of  the 
session.  About  that  time  2  a  worthy  member  of  great  parlia- 
mentary experience,  who  in  the  year  1766  filled  the  chair  of 
the  American  Committee  with  much  ability,  took  me  aside  and, 
lamenting  the  .present  aspect  of  our  politics,  told  me  things 
were  come  to  such  a  pass  that  our  former  methods  of  proceed- 
ing in  the  House  would  be  no  longer  tolerated;  that  the  public 
tribunal,  never  too  indulgent  to  a  long  and  unsuccessful  opposi- 
tion, would  now  scrutinize  our  conduct  with  unusual  severity; 
that  the  very  vicissitudes  and  shiftings  of  ministerial  measures, 
instead  of  convicting  their  authors  of  inconstancy  and  want  of 
system,  would  be  taken  as  an  occasion  of  charging  us  with  a 
predetermined  discontent  which  nothing  could  satisfy,  while  we 
accused  every  measure  of  vigor  as  cruel,  and  every  proposal  of 
lenity  as  weak  and  irresolute.  The  public,  he  said,  would  not 
have  patience  to  see  us  play  the  game  out  with  our  adversaries: 
we  must  produce  our  hand.  It  would  be  expected  that  those 
who  for  many  years  had  been  active  in  such  affairs  should 
show  that  they  had  formed  some  clear  and  decided  idea  of  the 
principles  of  colony  government,  and  were  capable  of  draw- 
ing out  something  like  a  platform  of  the  ground  which  might 
be   laid  for  future  and  permanent  tranquillity. 

6.  I  felt  the  truth  of  what  my  honorable  friend  represented, 
but  I  felt  my  situation,  too.  His  application  might  have  been 
made  with  far  greater  propriety  to  many  other  gentlemen.  No 
man  was  indeed  ever  better  disposed  or  worse  qualified  for 
such  an  undertaking  than  myself.  Though  I  gave  so  far  in  to 
his  opinion  that  I  immediately  threw  my  thoughts  into  a  sort 
of  parliamentary  form,  I  was  by  no  means  equally  ready  to 
produce  them.  It  generally  argues  some  degree  of  natural  im- 
potence of  mind  or  some  want  of  knowledge  of  the  world,  to 
hazard  plans  of  government  except  from  a  seat  of  authority. 
Propositions    are    made    not    only    ineffectually    but    somewhat 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         29 

disreputably  when  the  minds  of  men  are  not  properly  disposed 
for  their  reception ;  and  for  my  part  I  am  not  ambitious  of 
ridicule,  not  absolutely  a  candidate  for  disgrace. 

7.  Besides,  Sir,  to  speak  the  plain  truth,  I  have  in  general  no 
very  exalted  opinion  of  the  virtue  of  3  paper  government,  nor 
of  any  politics  in  which  the  plan  is  to  be  wholly  separated 
from  the  execution.  But  when  I  saw  that  anger  and  violence 
prevailed  every  day  more  and  more,  and  that  things  were 
hastening  toward  an  incurable  alienation  of  our  colonies,  I 
confess  my  caution  gave  way.  I  felt  this  as  one  of  those  few 
moments  in  which  decorum  yields  to  a  higher  duty.  Public 
calamity  is  a  mighty  leveler,  and  there  are  occasions  when  any, 
even  the  slightest,  chance  of  doing  good  must  be  laid  hold  on 
even  by  the  most  inconsiderable  person. 

8.  To  restore  order  and  repose  to  an  empire  so  great  and  so 
distracted  as  ours,  is,  merely  in  the  attempt,  an  undertaking 
that  would  ennoble  the  flights  of  the  highest  genius  and  obtain 
pardon  for  the  efforts  of  the  meanest  understanding.  Struggling 
a  good  while  with  these  thoughts,  by  degrees  I  felt  myself  more 
firm.  I  derived,  at  length,  some  confidence  from  what  in  other 
circumstances  usually  produces  timidity.  I  grew  less  anxious 
even  from  the  idea  of  my  own  insignificance.  For  judging 
of  what  you  are  by  what  you  ought  to  be,  I  persuaded  myself 
that  you  would  not  reject  a  reasonable  proposition  because 
it  had  nothing  but  its  reason  to  recommend  it.  On  the  other 
hand  being  totally  destitute  of  all  shadow  of  influence,  natural 
or  adventitious,  I  was  very  sure  that  if  my  proposition  were 
futile  or  dangerous,  if  it  were  weakly  conceived  or  improperly 
timed,  there  was  nothing  exterior  to  it  of  power  to  awe,  dazzle, 
or  delude  you.  You  will  see  it  just  as  it  is  and  you  will 
treat   it    just    as   it   deserves. 

9.  The  proposition  is  peace.  Not  peace  through  the 
medium  of  war;  not  peace  to  be  hunted  through  the 
labyrinth  of  intricate  and  endless  negotiations;  not  peace 
to  arise  out  of  universal  discord,  fomented  from  principle, 
in  all  parts  of  the  empire ;  not  peace  to  depend  on  the 
juridical  determination  4  of  perplexing  questions,  or  the 
precise  marking  of  shadowy  boundaries  of  a  complex 
government.  It  is  simple  peace,  sought  in  its  natural 
course  and  in  its  ordinary  haunts.     It  is  peace  sought  in 


30  EDMUND  BURKE 

the  spirit  of  peace,  and  laid  in  principles  purely  pacific. 
I  propose  by  removing  the  ground  of  the  difference  and 
by  restoring  the  former  unsuspecting  confidence  of  the 
colonies  in  the  Mother  Country,  to  give  permanent  satis- 
faction to  your  people;  and,  far  from  a  scheme  of  ruling 
by  discord,  to  reconcile  them  to  each  other  in  the  same 
act,  and  by  the  bond  of  the  very  same  interest  which  re- 
conciles them  to  British  government. 

10.  My  idea  is  nothing  more.  Refined  policy  ever  has 
been  the  parent  of  confusion,  and  ever  will  be  so  as 
long  as  the  world  endures.  Plain  good  intention,  which 
is  as  easily  discovered  at  the  first  view  as  fraud  is  surely 
detected  at  last,  is,  let  me  say,  of  no  mean  force  in  the 
government  of  mankind.  Genuine  simplicity  of  heart  is  a 
healing  and  cementing  principle.  My  plan  therefore, 
being  formed  upon  the  most  simple  grounds  imaginable, 
may  disappoint  some  people  when  they  hear  it.  It  has 
nothing  to  recommend  it  to  the  pruriency  of  curious  ears. 
There  is  nothing  at  all  new  and  captivating  in  it.  It  has 
nothing  of  the  splendor  of  the  project  which  has  been 
lately  laid  upon  your  table  by  the  noble  lord  in  the  blue 
ribbon.  It  does  not  propose  to  fill  your  lobby  with  squab- 
bling colony  agents,5  who  will  require  the  interposition 
of  your  mace  at  every  instant  to  keep  the  peace  among 
them.  It  does  not  institute  a  magnificent  auction  of 
finance,  where  captivated  provinces  come  to  general  ran- 
som by  bidding  against  each  other  until  you  knock 
down  the  hammer  and  determine  a  proportion  of  pay- 
ments beyond  all  the  powers  of  algebra  to  equalize  and 
settle. 

ii.  The  plan  which  I  shall  presume  to  suggest  derives, 
however,  one  great  advantage  from  the  proposition  and 
registry  of  that  6  noble  lord's  project, — the  idea  of  con- 
ciliation is  admissible.  First,  the  House,  in  accepting 
the  resolution  moved  by  the  noble  lord,  has  admitted,  not- 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         31 

withstanding  the  menacing  front  of  our  address,  notwith- 
standing our  heavy  bills  of  pains  and  penalties,7  that  we 
do  not  think  ourselves  precluded  from  all  ideas  of  free 
grace  and  bounty. 

12.  The  House  has  gone  further:  it  has  declared  con- 
ciliation admissible  previous  to  any  submission  on  the  part 
of  America.  It  has  even  shot  a  good  deal  beyond  that 
mark  and  has  admitted  that  the  complaints  of  our  former 
mode  of  exerting  the  right  of  taxation  were  not  wholly 
unfounded.  That  right  thus  exerted  is  allowed  to  have 
had  something  reprehensible  in  it,  something  unwise  or 
something  grievous,  since,  in  the  midst  of  our  heat  and 
resentment  we  of  ourselves  have  proposed  a  capital  alter- 
ation; and,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  what  seemed  so  very 
exceptionable,  have  instituted  a  mode  that  is  altogether 
new,  one  that  is  indeed  wholly  alien  from  all  the  ancient 
methods  and  forms  of  Parliament. 

13.  The  principle  of  this  proceeding  is  large  enough 
for  my  purpose.  The  means  proposed  by  the  noble  lord 
for  carrying  his  ideas  into  execution,  I  think,  indeed,  are 
very  indifferently  suited  to  the  end;  and  this  I  shall  en- 
deavor to  show  you  before  I  sit  down.  But  for  the 
present  I  take  my  ground  on  the  admitted  principle.  I 
mean  to  give  peace.  Peace  implies  reconciliation ;  and 
where  there  has  been  a  material  dispute,  reconciliation 
does  in  a  manner  always  imply  concession  on  the  one  part 
or  on  the  other.  In  this  state  of  things  I  make  no  diffi- 
culty in  affirming  that  the  proposal  ought  to  originate 
from  us.  Great  and  acknowledged  force  is  not  impaired 
either  in  effect  or  in  opinion  by  an  unwillingness  to  exert 
itself.  The  superior  power  may  offer  peace  with  honor 
and  with  safety.  Such  an  offer  from  such  a  power  will 
be  attributed  to  magnanimity.  But  the  concessions  of  the 
weak  are  the  concessions  of  fear.  When  such  a  one  is 
disarmed  he  is  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  his  superior;  and 


32  EDMUND  BURKE 

he  loses  forever  that  time  and  those  chances  which,  as 
they  happen  to  all  men,  are  the  strength  and  resources  of 
all  inferior  power. 

14.  The  capital  leading  questions  on  which  you  must 
this  day  decide  are  these  two :  First,  whether  you  ought  to 
concede,  and  secondly,  what  your  concessions  ought  to  be. 
On  the  first  of  these  questions  we  have  gained,  as  I  have 
just  taken  the  liberty  of  observing  to  you,  some  ground. 
But  I  am  sensible  that  a  good  deal  more  is  still  to  be 
done.  Indeed,  Sir,  to  enable  us  to  determine  both  on  the 
one  and  the  other  of  these  great  questions  with  a  firm  and 
precise  judgment,  I  think  it  may  be  necessary  to  consider 
distinctly  the  true  nature  and  the  peculiar  circumstances 
of  the  object  8  which  we  have  before  us,  because  after  all 
our  struggle,  whether  we  will  or  not,  we  must  govern 
America  according  to  that  nature  and  to  those  circum- 
stances, and  not  according  to  our  own  imaginations,  not 
according  to  abstract  ideas  of  right;  by  no  means  accord- 
ing to  mere  general  theories  of  government,  the  resort  to 
which  appears  to  me  in  our  present  situation  no  better 
than  arrant  trifling.  I  shall  therefore  endeavor,  with 
your  leave,  to  lay  before  you  some  of  the  most  material 
of  these  circumstances  in  as  full  and  as  clear  a  manner  as 
I  am  able  to  state  them. 

15.  The  first  thing  that  we  have  to  consider  with  re- 
gard to  the  nature  of  the  object  is  the  number  of  people  in 
the  colonies.  I  have  taken  for  some  years  a  good  deal  of 
pains  on  that  point.  I  can  by  no  calculation  justify  my- 
self in  placing  the  number  below  two  millions  of  inhabi- 
tants of  our  own  European  blood  and  color,  besides  at 
least  500,000  others  who  form  no  inconsiderable  part  of 
the  strength  and  opulence  of  the  whole.  This,  Sir,  is,  I 
believe,  about  the  true  number.  There  is  no  occasion  to 
exaggerate  where  plain  truth  is  of  so  much  weight  and 
importance.     But  whether  I  put  the  present  numbers  too  high 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         33 

or  too  low,  is  a  matter  of  little  moment.  Such  is  the  strength 
with  which  population  shoots  in  that  part  of  the  world,  that 
state  the  numbers  as  high  as  we  will,  while  the  dispute  con- 
tinues, the  exaggeration  ends.  While  we  are  discussing  any- 
given  magnitude,  they  are  grown  to  it.  While  we  spend  our 
time  in  deliberating  on  the  mode  of  governing  two  millions, 
we  shall  find  we  have  millions  more  to  manage.  Your  children 
do  not  grow  faster  from  infancy  to  manhood  than  they  spread 
from  families  to  communities,  and  from  villages  to  nations. 

16.  I  put  this  consideration  of  the  present  and  the  growing 
numbers  in  the  front  of  our  deliberation;  because,  Sir,  this 
consideration  will  make  it  evident  to  a  blunter  discernment 
than  yours,  that  no  partial,  narrow,  contracted,  pinched,  occa- 
sional system  will  be  at  all  suitable  to  such  an  object.  It  will 
show  you  that  it  is  not  to  be  considered  as  one  of  those 
minima  which  are  out  of  the  eye  and  consideration  of  the  law; 
not  a  paltry  excrescence  of  the  state;  not  a  mean  dependent, 
who  may  be  neglected  with  little  damage  and  provoked  with 
little  danger.  It  will  prove  that  some  degree  of  care  and 
caution  is  required  in  the  handling  such  an  object;  it  will  show 
that  yon  ought  not  in  reason  to  trifle  with  so  large  a  mass 
of  the  interests  and  feelings  of  the  human  race.  You  could  at 
no  time  do  so  without  guilt;  and  be  assured  you  will  not  be 
able  to  do  it  long  with  impunity. 

17.  But  the  population  of  this  country,  the  great  and  growing 
population,  though  a  very  important  consideration,  will  lose 
much  of  its  weight  if  not  combined  with  other  circumstances. 
The  commerce  of  your  colonies  is  out  of  all  proportion  beyond 
the  numbers  of  the  people.  This  ground  of  their  commerce 
indeed  has  been  trod  some  days  ago,  and  with  great  ability, 
by  a  distinguished  person  at  your  bar.0  This  gentleman, 
after  thirty-five  years1 — it  is  so  long  since  he  first  appeared 
at  the  same  place  to  plead  for  the  commerce  of  Great  Britain 
— has  come  again  before  you  to  plead  the  same  cause,  without 
any  other  effect  of  time  than  that  to  the  fire  of  imagination 
and  extent  of  erudition  which  even  then  marked  him  as  one  of 
the  first  literary  characters  of  his  age,  he  has  added  a  consum- 
mate knowledge  in  the  commercial  interest  of  his  country, 
formed  by  a  long  course  of  enlightened  and  discriminating 
experience. 

18.  Sir,  I  should  be  inexcusable  in  coming  after  such  a  person 
with  any  detail  if  a  great  part  of  the  members  who  now  fill 


34  EDMUND  BURKE 

the  House  had  not  the  misfortune  to  be  absent  when  he  appeared 
at  your  bar.10  Besides,  Sir,  I  propose  to  take  the  matter  at 
periods  of  time  somewhat  different  from  his.  There  is,  if 
I  mistake  not,  a  point  of  view  from  whence,  if  you  will  look 
at  this  subject,  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  not  make  an  im- 
pression upon  you. 

19.  I  have  in  my  hand  two  accounts:  one  a#comparative  state 
of  the  export  trade  of  England  to  its  colonies  as  it  stood  in 
the  year  1704  and  as  it  stood  in  the  year  1772;  the  other  a 
state  of  the  export  trade  of  this  country  to  its  colonies  alone 
as  it  stood  in  1772,  compared  with  the  whole  trade  of  Eng- 
land to  all  parts  of  the  world,  the  colonies  included,  in  the 
year  1704.  They  are  from  good  vouchers;  the  latter  period 
from  the  accounts  on  your  table,  the  earlier  from  an  original 
manuscript  of  Davenant,  who  first  established  the  inspector- 
general's  office,  which  has  been  ever  since  his  time  so  abundant 
a  source  of  parliamentary  information. 

20.  The  export  trade  to  the  colonies  consists  of  three  great 
branches:  the  African,  which,  terminating  almost  wholly  in  the 
colonies,  must  be  put  to  the  account  of  their  commerce;  the 
West  Indian;  and  the  North  American.  All  these  are  so 
interwoven  that  the  attempt  to  separate  them  would  tear  to 
pieces  the  contexture  of  the  whole;  and  if  not  entirely  destroy, 
would  very  much  depreciate  the  value  of  all  the  parts.  I  there- 
fore consider  these  three  denominations  to  be  what  in  effect 
they   are,   one   trade. 

21.  The  trade  to  the  colonies,  taken  on  the  export  side  at  the 
beginning  of  this  century,  that  is,  in  the  year  1704,  stood  thus: — 

Exports  to  North  America  and  the  West  Indies  £483,265 

To    Africa 86,665 

£569,930 

22.  In  the  year  1772,  which  I  take  as  a  middle  year  between 
the  highest  and  lowest  of  those  lately  laid  on  your  table,  the 
account  was  as  follows: — 

To  North  America  and  the  West  Indies....   £4,791,734 

To    Africa 866,398 

To  which,  if  you  add  the  export  trade  from 

Scotland,  which  had  in  1704  no  existence..  364,000 

£6,022,132 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         35 

23.  From  five  hundred  and  odd  thousand  it  has  grown  to  six 
millions.  It  has  increased  no  less  than  twelvefold.  This  is  the 
state  of  the  colony  trade  as  compared  with  itself  at  these  two 
periods  within  this  century,  and  this  is  matter  for  meditation. 
But  this  is  not  all.  Examine  my  second  account.  See  how  the 
export  trade  to  the  colonies  alone  in  1772  stood  in  the  other 
point  of  view,  that  is,  as  compared  to  the  whole  trade  of 
England  in  1704. 

The  whole  export  trade  of  England,  includ- 
ing that  to  the  colonies,  in  1704 £6,509,000 

Export  to  the  colonies  alone  in   1772 6,022,000 


Difference £487,000 

24.  The  trade  with  America  alone  is  now  within  less  than 
£500,000  of  being  equal  to  what  this  great  commercial  nation, 
England,  carried  on  at  the  beginning  of  this  century  with  the 
whole  world!  If  I  had  taken  the  largest  year  of  those  on  your 
table,  it  would  rather  have  exceeded.  But,  it  will  be  said,  is  not 
this  American  trade  an  unnatural  protuberance,  that  has  drawn 
the  juices  from  the  rest  of  the  body?  The  reverse.  It  is  the 
very  food  that  has  nourished  every  other  part  into  its  present 
magnitude.  Our  general  trade  has  been  greatly  augmented, 
and  augmented  more  or  less  in  almost  every  part  to  which  it 
ever  extended,  but  with  this  material  difference,  that  of  the 
six  millions  which  in  the  beginning  of  the  century  constituted 
the  whole  mass  of  our  export  commerce,  the  colony  trade  was 
but  one-twelfth  part:  it  is  now,  as  a  part  of  sixteen  millions, 
considerably  more  than  a  third  of  the  whole.  This  is  the 
relative  proportion  of  the  importance  of  the  colonies  at  these 
two  periods;  and  all  reasoning  concerning  our  mode  of  treat- 
ing them  must  have  this  proportion  as  its  basis,  or  it  is  a 
reasoning  weak,  rotten,  and  sophistical. 

25.  Mr.  Speaker,  I  can  not  prevail  on  myself  to  hurry  over 
this  great  consideration.  It  is  good  for  us  to  be  here.  We  stand 
where  we  have  an  immense  view  of  what  is  and  what  is  past. 
Clouds,  indeed,  and  darkness  rest  upon  the  future.  Let  us, 
however,  before  we  descend  from  this  noble  eminence,  reflect 
that  this  growth  of  our  national  prosperity  has  happened  within 
the  short  period  of  the  life  of  man.  It  has  happened  within 
sixty-eight  years.  There  are  those  alive  whose  memory  might 
touch   the    two   extremities.     For   instance,   my   Lord   Bathurst 


36  EDMUND  BURKE 

might  remember  all  the  stages  of  the  progress.  He  was  in 
1704  of  an  age  at  least  to  be  made  to  comprehend  such  things. 
He  was  then  old  enough  acta  parentum  jam  legere,  et  quae  sit 
poterit  cognoscere  virtus.11  Suppose,  Sir,  that  the  angel  of  this 
auspicious  youth,  foreseeing  the  many  virtues  which  made  him 
one  of  the  most  amiable,  as  he  is  one  of  the  most  fortunate, 
men  of  his  age,  had  opened  to  him  in  vision  that  when  in  the 
fourth  generation  the  third  prince  of  the  House  of  Brunswick 
had  sat  twelve  years  on  the  throne  of  that  nation,  which,  by 
the  happy  issue  of  moderate  and  healing  councils,  was  to  be 
made  Great  Britain,  he  should  see  his  son,  Lord  Chancellor 
of  England,  turn  back  the  current  of  hereditary  dignity  to  its 
fountain,  and  raise  him  to  a  higher  rank  of  peerage,  while 
he  enriched  the  family  with  a  new  one — if,  amidst  these  bright 
and  happy  scenes  of  domestic  honor  and  prosperity,  that  angel 
should  have  drawn  up  the  curtain  and  unfolded  the  rising 
glories  of  his  country,  and  while  he  was  gazing  with  admira- 
tion on  the  then  commercial  grandeur  of  England,  the  genius 
should  point  out  to  him  a  little  speck,  scarce  visible  in  the 
mass  of  the  national  interest,  a  small  seminal  principle,  rather 
than  a  formed  body,  and  should  tell  him,  "  Young  man,  there 
is  America,  which  at  this  day  serves  for  little  more  than  to 
amuse  you  with  stories  of  savage  men  and  uncouth  manners, 
yet  shall,  before  you  taste  of  death,  show  itself  equal  to  the 
whole  of  that  commerce  which  now  attracts  the  envy  of  the 
world.  Whatever  England  has  been  growing  to  by  a  pro- 
gressive increase  of  improvement,  brought  in  by  varieties  of 
people,  by  succession  of  civilizing  conquests  and  civilizing  set- 
tlements in  a  series  of  seventeen  hundred  years,  you  shall  see 
as  much  added  to  her  by  America  in  the  course  of  a  single 
life !  "  If  this  state  of  his  country  had  been  foretold  to  him, 
would  it  not  require  all  the  sanguine  credulity  of  youth  and 
all  the  fervid  glow  of  enthusiasm  to  make  him  believe  it? 
Fortunate  man,  he  has  lived  to  see  it!  Fortunate  indeed  if 
he  lives  to  see  nothing  that  shall  vary  the  prospect  and  cloud 
the  setting  of  his  day! 

26.  Excuse  me,  Sir,  if,  turning  from  such  thoughts,  I  resume 
this  comparative  view  once  more.  You  have  seen  it  on  a 
large  scale:  look  at  it  on  a  small  one.  I  will  point  out  to 
your  attention  a  particular  instance  of  it  in  the  single  province 
of  Pennsylvania.  In  the  year  1704  that  province  called  for 
£1 1,459    m    value    of    your    commodities    native    and    foreign. 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         37 

This  was  the  whole.  What  did  it  demand  in  1772?  Why, 
nearly  fifty  times  as  much;  for  in  that  year  the  export  to 
Pennsylvania  was  £507,909,  nearly  equal  to  the  export  to  all 
the  colonies  together   in  the   first  period. 

27.  I  choose,  Sir,  to  enter  into  these  minute  and  particular  de- 
tails because  generalities,  which  in  all  other  cases  are  apt  to 
heighten  and  raise  the  subject,  have  here  a  tendency  to  sink  it. 
When  we  speak  of  the  commerce  with  our  colonies,  fiction 
lags  after  truth,  invention  is  unfruitful,  and  imagination 
cold  and  barren. 

28.  So  far,  Sir,  as  to  the  importance  of  the  object  in 
the  view  of  its  commerce,  as  concerned  in  the  exports  from 
England.  If  I  were  to  detail  the  imports,  I  could  show 
how  many  enjoyments  they  procure  which  deceive  the 
burden  of  life;  how  many  materials  which  invigorate  the 
springs  of  national  industry  and  extend  and  animate  every 
part  of  our  foreign  and  domestic  commerce.  This  would 
be  a  curious  subject  indeed,  but  I  must  prescribe  bounds 
to  myself  in  a  matter  so  vast  and  various. 

29.  I  pass,  therefore,  to  the  colonies  in  another  point  of 
view — their  agriculture.  This  they  have  prosecuted  with 
such  a  spirit  that,  besides  feeding  plentifully  their  own 
growing  multitude,  their  annual  export  of  grain,  com- 
prehending rice,  has  some  years  ago  exceeded  a  million  in 
value.  Of  their  last  harvest,  I  am  persuaded  they  will 
export  much  more.  At  the  beginning  of  the  century  some 
of  these  colonies  imported  corn  from  the  Mother  Country; 
for  some  time  past  the  Old  World  has  been  fed  from  the 
New.  The  scarcity  which  you  have  felt  would  have  been 
a  desolating  famine,  if  this  child  of  your  old  age,  with  a 
true  filial  piety,  with  a  Roman  charity,12  had  not  put  the 
full  breast  of  its  youthful  exuberance  to  the  mouth  of  its 
exhausted  parent. 

30.  As  to  the  wealth  which  the  colonies  have  drawn 
from  the  sea  by  their  fisheries,  you  had  all  that  matter 
fully  opened  at  your  bar.    You  surely  thought  those  acqui- 


38  EDMUND  BURKE 

sitions  of  value,  for  they  seemed  even  to  excite  your  envy,1,1 
and  yet  the  spirit  by  which  that  enterprising  employment 
has  been  exercised  ought  rather,  in  my  opinion,  to  have 
raised  your  esteem  and  admiration.  And  pray,  Sir,  what 
in  the  world  is  equal  to  it?  Pass  by  the  other  parts,  and 
look  at  the  manner  in  which  the  people  of  New  England 
have  of  late  carried  on  the  whale  fishery.  While  we  fol- 
low them  among  the  tumbling  mountains  of  ice,  and  be- 
hold them  penetrating  into  the  deepest  frozen  recesses  of 
Hudson's  Bay  and  Davis's  Straits,  while  we  are  looking 
for  them  beneath  the  arctic  circle,  we  hear  that  they  have 
pierced  into  the  opposite  region  of  polar  cold,  that  they 
are  at  the  antipodes,  and  engaged  under  the  frozen  Ser- 
pent 14  of  the  south.  Falkland  Island,  which  seemed  too 
remote  and  romantic  an  object  for  the  grasp  of  national 
ambition,  is  but  a  stage  and  resting  place  in  the  progress 
of  their  victorious  industry.  Nor  is  the  equinoctial  heat 
more  discouraging  to  them  than  the  accumulated  winter 
of  both  poles.  We  know  that  while  some  of  them  draw 
the  line  and  strike  the  harpoon  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
others  run  the  longitude  and  pursue  their  gigantic  game 
along  the  coast  of  Brazil.  No  sea  but  what  is  vexed  by 
their  fisheries.  No  climate  that  is  not  witness  to  their 
toils.  Neither  the  perseverance  of  Holland,  nor  the  ac- 
tivity of  France,  nor  the  dexterous  and  firm  sagacity  of 
English  enterprise,  ever  carried  this  most  perilous  mode 
of  hardy  industry  to  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been 
pushed  by  this  recent  people — a  people  who  are  still,  as  it 
were,  but  in  the  gristle,  and  not  yet  hardened  into  the 
bone  of  manhood. 

31.  When  I  contemplate  these  things,  when  I  know 
that  the  colonies  in  general  owe  little  or  nothing  to  any 
care  of  ours,  and  that  they  are  not  squeezed  into  this  happy 
form  by  the  constraints  of  watchful  and  suspicious  gov- 
ernment, but  that,  through  a  wise  and  salutary  neglect, 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         39 

a  generous  nature  has  been  suffered  to  take  her  own  way 
to  perfection — when  I  reflect  upon  these  effects,  when  I 
see  how  profitable  they  have  been  to  us,  I  feel  all  the 
pride  of  power  sink,  and  all  presumption  in  the  wisdom  of 
human  contrivances  melt  and  die  away  within  me.  My 
rigor  relents.    I  pardon  something  to  the  spirit  of  liberty. 

32.  I  am  sensible,  Sir,  that  all  which  I  have  asserted  in 
my  detail  is  admitted  in  the  gross,  but  that  quite  a  differ- 
ent conclusion  is  drawn  from  it.  America,  gentlemen 
say,  is  a  noble  object;  it  is  an  object  well  worth  fighting 
for.  Certainly  it  is,  if  fighting  a  people  be  the  best  way  of 
gaining  them.  Gentlemen  in  this  respect  will  be  led  to 
their  choice  of  means  by  their  complexions  and  their 
habits.  Those  who  understand  the  military  art  will  of 
course  have  some  predilection  for  it.  Those  who  wield 
the  thunder  of  the  state  may  have  more  confidence  in  the 
efficacy  of  arms.  But  I  confess,  possibly  for  want  of  this 
knowledge,  my  opinion  is  much  more  in  favor  of  prudent 
management  than  of  force — considering  force  not  as  an 
odious,  but  a  feeble  instrument  for  preserving  a  people 
so  numerous,  so  active,  so  growing,  so  spirited  as  this,  in 
a  profitable  and  subordinate  connection  with  us. 

33.  First,  Sir,  permit  me  to  observe  that  the  use  of 
force  alone  is  but  temporary.  It  may  subdue  for  a  mo- 
ment, but  it  does  not  remove  the  necessity  of  subduing 
again ;  and  a  nation  is  not  governed  which  is  perpetually 
to  be  conquered. 

34.  My  next  objection  is  its  uncertainty.  Terror  is 
not  always  the  effect  of  force,  and  an  armament  is  not  a 
victory.  If  you  do  not  succeed,  you  are  without  resource ; 
for,  conciliation  failing,  force  remains;  but,  force  failing, 
no  further  hope  of  reconciliation  is  left.  Power  and  au- 
thority are  sometimes  bought  by  kindness,  but  they  can 
never  be  begged  as  alms  by  an  impoverished  and  defeated 
violence. 


40  EDMUND  BURKE 

35.  A  further  objection  to  force  is  that  you  impair  the 
object  by  your  very  endeavors  to  preserve  it.  The  thing 
you  fought  for  is  not  the  thing  which  you  recover,  but 
depreciated,  sunk,  wasted,  and  consumed  in  the  contest. 
Nothing  less  will  content  me  than  whole  America.  I  do 
not  choose  to  consume  its  strength  along  with  our  own ; 
because  in  all  parts  it  is  the  British  strength  that  I  con- 
sume. I  do  not  choose  to  be  caught  by  a  foreign  enemy 
at  the  end  of  this  exhausting  conflict,  and  still  less  in  the 
midst  of  it.  I  may  escape,  but  I  can  make  no  insurance 
against  such  an  event.  Let  me  add  that  I  do  not  choose 
wholly  to  break  the  American  spirit;  because  it  is  the 
spirit  that  has  made  the  country. 

36.  Lastly,  we  have  no  sort  of  experience  in  favor  of 
force  as  an  instrument  in  the  rule  of  our  colonies.  Their 
growth  and  their  utility  has  been  owing  to  methods  alto- 
gether different.  Our  ancient  indulgence  has  been  said 
to  be  pursued  to  a  fault.  It  may  be  so.  But  we  know, 
if  feeling  is  evidence,  that  our  fault  was  more  tolerable 
than  our  attempt  to  mend  it,  and  our  sin  far  more  salu- 
tary than  our  penitence. 

37.  These,  Sir,  are  my  reasons  for  not  entertaining 
that  high  opinion  of  untried  force  by  which  many  gentle- 
men, for  whose  sentiments  in  other  particulars  I  have 
great  respect,  seem  to  be  so  greatly  captivated.  But  there 
is  still  behind  a  third  consideration  concerning  this  object, 
which  serves  to  determine  my  opinion  on  the  sort  of 
policy  which  ought  to  be  pursued  in  the  management  of 
America,  even  more  than  its  population  and  its  commerce: 
I  mean  its  temper  and  character. 

38.  In  this  character  of  the  Americans  a  love  of  free- 
dom is  the  predominating  feature  which  marks  and  distin- 
guishes the  whole;  and  as  an  ardent  is  always  a  jealous 
affection,  your  colonies  become  suspicious,  restive,  and  un- 
tractable,  whenever  they  see  the  least  attempt  to  wrest 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         41 

from  them  by  force  or  shuffle  from  them  by  chicane  what 
they  think  the  only  advantage  worth  living  for.  This 
fierce  spirit  of  liberty  is  stronger  in  the  English  colonies 
probably  than  in  any  other  people  of  the  earth;  and  this 
from  a  great  variety  of  powerful  causes,  which,  to  understand 
the  true  temper  of  their  minds  and  the  direction  which  this 
spirit  takes,  it  will  not  be  amiss  to  lay  open  somewhat  more 
largely. 

39.  First,  the  people  of  the  colonies  are  descendants  of  Eng- 
lishmen. England,  Sir,  is  a  nation  which  still,  I  hope,  respects, 
and  formerly  adored,  her  freedom.  The  colonists  emigrated 
from  you  when  this  part  of  your  character  was  most  pre- 
dominant; and  they  took  this  bias  and  direction  the  moment 
they  parted  from  your  hands.  They  are  therefore  not  only 
devoted  to  liberty,  but  to  liberty  according  to  English  ideas 
and  on  English  principles.  Abstract  liberty,  like  other  mere 
abstractions,  is  not  to  be  found.  Liberty  inheres  in  some  sen- 
sible object;  and  every  nation  has  formed  to  itself  some  favorite 
point,  which  by  way  of  eminence  becomes  the  criterion  of  their 
happiness.  It  happened,  you  know,  Sir,  that  the  great  contests 
for  freedom  in  this  country  were  from  the  earliest  times  chiefly 
upon  the  question  of  taxing.  Most  of  the  contests  in  the 
ancient  commonwealths  turned  primarily  on  the  right  of  elec- 
tion of  magistrates,  or  on  the  balance  among  the  several  orders 
of  the  state.  The  question  of  money  was  not  with  them  so 
immediate.  But  in  England  it  was  otherwise.  On  this  point 
of  taxes  the  ablest  pens  and  most  eloquent  tongues  have  been 
exercised ;  the  greatest  spirits  have  acted  and  suffered.  In 
order  to  give  the  fullest  satisfaction  concerning  the  importance 
of  this  point,  it  was  not  only  necessary  for  those  who  in 
argument  defended  the  excellence  of  the  English  Constitution 
to  insist  on  this  privilege  of  granting  money  as  a  dry  point  of 
fact,  and  to  prove  that  the  right  had  been  acknowledged  in 
ancient  parchments  and  blind  usages  to  reside  in  a  certain 
body  called  a  House  of  Commons.  They  went  much  further: 
they  attempted  to  prove,  and  they  succeeded,  that  in  theory  it 
ought  to  be  so  from  the  particular  nature  of  a  House  of  Com- 
mons as  an  immediate  representative  of  the  people,  whether 
the  old  records  had  delivered  this  oracle  or  not.  They  took 
infinite  pains  to  inculcate,  as  a  fundamental  principle,  that  in 
all  monarchies  the  people  must  in  effect,  themselves,   mediately 


42  EDMUND  BURKE 

or  immediately,  possess  the  power  of  granting  their  own  money, 
or  no  shadow  of  liberty  could  subsist.  The  colonies  draw  from 
you,  as  with  their  lifeblood,  these  ideas  and  principles.  Their 
love  of  liberty,  as  with  you,  fixed  and  attached  on  this  specific 
point  of  taxing.  Liberty  might  be  safe  or  might  be  endangered 
in  twenty  other  particulars,  without  their  being  much  pleased  or 
alarmed.  Here  they  felt  its  pulse;  and  as  they  found  that 
beat,  they  thought  themselves  sick  or  sound.  I  do  not  say 
whether  they  were  right  or  wrong  in  applying  your  general 
arguments  to  their  own  case.  It  is  not  easy  indeed  to  make  a 
monopoly  of  theorems  and  corollaries.  The  fact  is  that  they 
did  thus  apply  those  general  arguments;  and  your  mode  of 
governing  them,  whether  through  lenity  or  indolence,  through 
wisdom  or  mistake,  confirmed  them  in  the  imagination  that 
they,  as  well  as  you,  had  an  interest  in  these  common  principles. 

40.  They  were  further  confirmed  in  this  pleasing  error  by  the 
form  of  their  provincial  legislative  assemblies.  Their  govern- 
ments are  popular  in  a  high  degree;  some  are  merely  popular; 
in  all  the  popular  representative  is  the  most  weighty;  and  this 
share  of  the  people  in  their  ordinary  government  never  fails 
to  inspire  them  with  lofty  sentiments,  and  with  a  strong  aversion 
from  whatever  tends  to  deprive  them  of  their  chief  importance. 

41.  If  anything  were  wanting  to  this  necessary  operation  of 
the  form  of  government,  religion  would  have  given  it  a  com- 
plete effect.  Religion,  always  a  principle  of  energy,  in  this  new 
people  is  no  way  worn  out  or  impaired;  and  their  mode  of 
professing  it  is  also  one  main  cause  of  this  free  spirit.  The 
people  are  Protestants,  and  of  that  kind  which  is  the  most 
adverse  to  all  implicit  submission  of  mind  and  opinion.  This 
is  a  persuasion  not  only  favorable  to  liberty,  but  built  upon  it. 
I  do  not  think,  Sir,  that  the  reason  of  this  averseness  in  the 
dissenting  churches  from  all  that  looks  like  absolute  govern- 
ment is  so  much  to  be  sought  in  their  relig'ous  tenets  as  in  their 
history.  Every  one  knows  that  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
is  at  least  coeval  with  most  of  the  governments  where  it  pre- 
vails; that  it  has  generally  gone  hand  in  hand  with  them  and 
received  great  favor  and  every  kind  of  support  from  authority. 
The  Church  of  England,  too,  was  formed  from  her  cradle 
under  the  nursing  care  of  regular  government.  But  the  dissent- 
ing interests  have  sprung  up  in  direct  opposition  to  all  the 
ordinary  powers  of  the  world,  and  could  justify  that  opposition 
only  on  a  strong  claim  to  natural  liberty.     Their  very  existence 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         43 

depended  on  the  powerful  and  unremitted  assertion  of  that 
claim.  All  Protestantism,  even  the  most  cold  and  passive,  is 
a  sort  of  dissent.  But  the  religion  most  prevalent  in  our 
northern  colonies  is  a  refinement  on  the  principle  of  resistance: 
it  is  the  dissidence  of  dissent 15  and  the  Protestantism  of  the 
Protestant  religion.  This  religion,  under  a  variety  of  denomina- 
tions agreeing  in  nothing  but  in  the  communion  of  the  spirit 
of  liberty,  is  predominant  in  most  of  the  northern  provinces, 
where  the  Church  of  England,  notwithstanding  its  legal  rights, 
is  in  reality  no  more  than  a  sort  of  private  sect,  not  composing 
most  probably  the  tenth  of  the  people.  The  colonists  left 
England  when  this  spirit  was  high,  and  in  the  emigrants  was 
the  highest  of  all;  and  even  that  stream  of  foreigners  which 
has  been  constantly  flowing  into  these  colonies  has,  for  the 
greatest  part,  been  composed  of  dissenters  from  the  establish- 
ments of  their  several  countries,  and  have  brought  with  them 
a  temper  and  character  far  from  alien  to  that  of  the  people 
with   whom   they   mixed. 

42.  Sir,  I  can  perceive  by  their  manner  that  some  gentlemen 
object  to  the  latitude  of  this  description,  because  in  the  southern 
colonies  the  Church  of  England  forms  a  large  body  and  has 
a  regular  establishment.  It  is  certainly  true.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  circumstance  attending  these  colonies,  which,  in  my 
opinion,  fully  counterbalances  this  difference,  and  makes  the 
spirit  of  liberty  still  more  high  and  haughty  than  in  those  to  the 
northward.  It  is  that  in  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  they  have 
a  vast  multitude  of  slaves.  Where  this  is  the  case  in  any 
part  of  the  world,  those  who  are  free  are  by  far  the  most 
proud  and  jealous  of  their  freedom.  Freedom  is  to  them  not 
only  an  enjoyment,  but  a  kind  of  rank  and  privilege.  Not 
seeing  there  that  freedom,  as  in  countries  where  it  is  a  common 
blessing  and  as  broad  and  general  as  the  air,  may  be  united 
with  much  abject  toil,  with  great  misery,  with  all  the  exterior 
of  servitude,  liberty  looks,  among  them,  like  something  that 
is  more  noble  and  liberal.  I  do  not  mean,  Sir,  to  commend  the 
superior  morality  of  this  sentiment,  which  has  at  least  as  much 
pride  as  virtue  in  it;  but  I  can  not  alter  the  nature  of  man. 
The  fact  is  so;  and  these  people  of  the  southern  colonies  are 
much  more  strongly  and  with  a  higher  and  more  stubborn 
spirit  attached  to  liberty  than  those  to  the  northward.  Such 
were  all  the  ancient  commonwealths;  such  were  our  Gothic 
ancestors;   such  in  our  days  were  the  Poles;   and  such  will  be 


44  EDMUND  BURKE 

all  masters  of  slaves  who  are  not  slaves  themselves.  In  such 
a  people,  the  haughtiness  of  domination  combines  with  the 
spirit  of  freedom,  fortifies  it,    and   renders   it  invincible. 

43.  Permit  me,  Sir,  to  add  another  circumstance  in  our  colo- 
nies which  contributes  no  mean  part  toward  the  growth  and  ef- 
fect of  this  untractable  spirit:  I  mean  their  education.  In  no 
country  perhaps  in  the  world  is  the  law  so  general  a  study.  The 
profession  itself  is  numerous  and  powerful,  and  in  most  prov- 
inces it  takes  the  lead.  The  greater  number  of  the  deputies  sent 
to  the  Congress  were  lawyers.  But  all  who  read  (and  most  do 
read)  endeavor  to  obtain  some  smattering  in  that  science.  I 
have  been  told  by  an  eminent  bookseller  that  in  no  branch  of 
his  business,  after  tracts  of  popular  devotion,  were  so  many 
books  as  those  on  the  law  exported  to  the  plantations.  The 
colonists  have  now  fallen  into  the  way  of  printing  them  for 
their  own  use.  I  hear  that  they  have  sold  nearly  as  many  of 
Blackstone's  Commentaries  in  America  as  in  England.  General 
Gage  marks  out  this  disposition  very  particularly  in  a  letter 
on  your  table.  He  states  that  all  the  people  in  his  government 
are  lawyers  or  smatterers  in  law,  and  that  in  Boston  they 
have  been  enabled  by  successful  chicane  wholly  to  evade  many 
parts  of  one  of  your  capital  penal  constitutions.  The  smartness 
of  debate  will  say  that  this  knowledge  ought  to  teach  them 
more  clearly  the  rights  of  legislature,  their  obligations  to 
obedience,  and  the  penalties  of  rebellion.  All  this  is  mighty 
well.  But  my  honorable  and  learned  friend 10  on  the  floor, 
who  condescends  to  mark  what  I  say  for  animadversion,  will 
disdain  that  ground.  He  has  heard,  as  well  as  I,  that  when 
great  honors  and  great  emoluments  do  not  win  over  this 
knowledge  to  the  service  of  the  state,  it  is  a  formidable 
adversary  to  government.  If  the  spirit  be  not  tamed  and 
broken  by  these  happy  methods,  it  is  stubborn  and  litigious.17 
Abeunt  studia  in  mores.  This  study  renders  men  acute,  in- 
quisitive, dexterous,  prompt  in  attack,  ready  in  defense,  full 
of  resources.  In  other  countries  the  people,  more  simple  and 
of  a  less  mercurial  cast,  judge  of  an  ill  principle  in  govern- 
ment only  by  an  actual  grievance ;  here  they  anticipate  the 
evil,  and  judge  of  the  pressure  of  the  grievance  by  the  bad- 
ness of  the  principle.  They  augur  misgovernment  at  a  distance, 
and   snuff  the    approach   of   tyranny   in   every  tainted   breeze. 

44.  The  last  cause  of  this  disobedient  spirit  in  the  colonies  is 
hardly  less  powerful  than  the  rest,  as  it  is  not  merely  moral, 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         45 

but  laid  deep  in  the  natural  constitution  of  things.  Three 
thousand  miles  of  ocean  lie  between  you  and  them.  No 
contrivance  can  prevent  the  effect  of  this  distance  in 
weakening  government.  Seas  roll  and  months  pass,  be- 
tween the  order  and  the  execution ;  and  the  want  of  a 
speedy  explanation  of  a  single  point  is  enough  to  defeat  a 
whole  system.  You  have,  indeed,  winged  ministers  of 
vengeance,  who  carry  your  bolts  in  their  pounces  to  the 
remotest  verge  of  the  sea.  But  there  a  power  steps  in 
that  limits  the  arrogance  of  raging  passions  and  furious 
elements,  and  says,  "  So  far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  farther." 
Who  are  you,  that  you  should  fret  and  rage,  and  bite  the 
chains  of  Nature?  Nothing  worse  happens  to  you  than 
does  to  all  nations  who  have  extensive  empires;  and  it 
happens  in  all  the  forms  into  which  empire  can  be  thrown. 
In  large  bodies  the  circulation  of  power  must  be  less 
vigorous  at  the  extremities.  Nature  has  said  it.  The 
Turk  can  not  govern  Egypt  and  Arabia  and  Kurdistan 
as  he  governs  Thrace;  nor  has  he  the  same  dominion  in 
Crimea  and  Algiers  which  he  has  at  Brusa  and  Smyrna. 
Despotism  itself  is  obliged  to  truck  and  huckster.  The 
Sultan  gets  such  obedience  as  he  can.  He  governs  with 
a  loose  rein,  that  he  may  govern  at  all;  and  the  whole  of 
the  force  and  vigor  of  his  authority  in  his  center  is 
derived  from  a  prudent  relaxation  in  all  his  borders. 
Spain,  in  her  provinces,  is  perhaps  not  so  well  obeyed 
as  you  are  in  yours.  She  complies,  too;  she  submits;  she 
watches  times.  This  is  the  immutable  condition,  the 
eternal  law,  of  extensive  and  detached  empire. 

45.  Then,  Sir,  from  these  six  capital  sources:  of  de- 
scent, of  form  of  government,  of  religion  in  the  northern 
provinces,  of  manners  in  the  southern,  of  education,  of 
the  remoteness  of  situation  from  the  first  mover  of  govern- 
ment— from  all  these  causes  a  fierce  spirit  of  liberty 
has  grown  up.     It  has  grown  with  the  growth  of  the 


46  EDMUND  BURKE 

people  in  your  colonies,  and  increased  with  the  increase 
of  their  wealth — a  spirit  that,  unhappily  meeting  with  an 
exercise  of  power  in  England,  which,  however  lawful,  is 
not  reconcilable  to  any  ideas  of  liberty,  much  less  with 
theirs,  has  kindled  this  flame  that  is  ready  to  consume 
us. 

46.  I  do  not  mean  to  commend  either  the  spirit  in  this 
excess,  or  the  moral  causes  which  produce  it.  Perhaps  a 
more  smooth  and  accommodating  spirit  of  freedom  in 
them  would  be  more  acceptable  to  us.  Perhaps  ideas 
of  liberty  might  be  desired,  more  reconcilable  with  an 
arbitrary  and  boundless  authority.  Perhaps  we  might 
wish  the  colonists  to  be  persuaded  that  their  liberty  is 
more  secure  when  held  in  trust  for  them  by  us,  as  their 
guardians  during  a  perpetual  minority,  than  with  any 
part  of  it  in  their  own  hands.  The  question  is,  not 
whether  their  spirit  deserves  praise  or  blame,  but — what, 
in  the  name  of  God,  shall  we  do  with  it?  You  have  be- 
fore you  the  object,  such  as  it  is,  with  all  its  glories,  with  all 
its  imperfections  on  its  head.  You  see  the  magnitude,  the 
importance,  the  temper,  the  habits,  the  disorders.  By  all 
these  considerations  we  are  strongly  urged  to  determine  some- 
thing concerning  it.  We  are  called  upon  to  fix  some  rule  and 
line  for  our  future  conduct  which  may  give  a  little  stability  to 
our  politics,  and  prevent  the  return  of  such  unhappy  delibera- 
tions as  the  present.  Every  such  return  will  bring  the  matter 
before  us  in  a  still  more  untractable  form.  For,  what  astonish- 
ing and  incredible  things  have  we  not  seen  already!  What 
monsters  have  not  been  generated  from  this  unnatural  conten- 
tion! While  every  principle  of  authority  and  resistance  has 
been  pushed  upon  both  sides  as  far  as  it  would  go,  there  is 
nothing  so  solid  and  certain  either  in  reasoning  or  in  practice, 
that  has  not  been  shaken.  Until  very  lately  all  authority  in 
America  seemed  to  be  nothing  but  an  emanation  from  yours. 
Even  the  popular  part  of  the  colony  constitution  derived  all  its 
activity  and  its  first  vital  movement  from  the  pleasure  of  the 
crown.  We  thought,  Sir,  that  the  utmost  which  the  discon- 
tented colonists  could  do  was  to  disturb  authority;   we  never 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         47 

dreamt  they  could  of  themselves  supply  it,  knowing  in  general 
what  an  operose  business  it  is  to  establish  a  government  abso- 
lutely new.  But  having  for  our  purposes  in  this  contention 
resolved  that  none  but  an  obedient  assembly  should  sit,  the 
humors  of  the  people  there,  finding  all  passage  through  the 
legal  channel  stopped,  with  great  violence  broke  out  another 
way.  Some  provinces  have  tried  their  experiment,  as  we  have 
tried  ours;  and  theirs  has  succeeded.  They  have  formed  a 
government  sufficient  for  its  purposes,  without  the  bustle  of 
a  revolution,  or  the  troublesome  formality  of  an  election. 
Evident  necessity  and  tacit  consent  have  done  the  business 
in  an  instant.  So  well  they  have  done  it  that  Lord  Dun- 
more18  (the  account  is  among  the  fragments  on  your 
table)  tells  you  that  the  new  institution  is  infinitely  better 
obeyed  than  the  ancient  government  ever  was  in  its  most 
fortunate  periods.  Obedience  is  what  makes  government,  and 
not  the  names  by  which  it  is  called — not  the  name  of  governor, 
as  formerly,  or  committee,  as  at  present.  This  new  government 
has  originated  directly  from  the  people,  and  was  not  trans- 
mitted through  any  of  the  ordinary  artifical  media  of  a  positive 
constitution.  It  was  not  a  manufacture  ready  formed  and 
transmitted  to  them  in  that  condition  from  England.  The  evil 
arising  from  hence  is  this:  that  the  colonists  having  once  found 
the  possibility  of  enjoying  the  advantages  of  order  in  the 
midst  of  a  struggle  for  liberty,  such  struggles  will  not  hence- 
forward seem  so  terrible  to  the  settled  and  sober  part  of  man- 
kind  as  they  had   appeared  before  the  trial. 

47.  Pursuing  the  same  plan  of  punishing  by  the  denial  of  the 
exercise  of  government  to  still  greater  lengths,  we  wholly 
abrogated  the  ancient  government  of  Massachusetts.  We  were 
confident  that  the  first  feeling,  if  not  the  very  prospect  of 
anarchy,  would  instantly  enforce  a  complete  submission.  The 
experiment  was  tried.  A  new,  strange,  unexpected  face  of 
things  appeared.  Anarchy  is  found  tolerable.  A  vast  province 
has  now  subsisted,  and  subsisted  in  a  considerable  degree  of 
health  and  vigor  for  near  a  twelvemonth,  without  governor, 
without  public  council,  without  judges,  without  executive  magis- 
trates. How  long  it  will  continue  in  this  state,  or  what  may 
arise  out  of  this  unheard-of  situation,  how  can  the  wisest  of 
us  conjecture?  Our  late  experience  has  taught  us  that  many 
of  those  fundamental  principles,  formerly  believed  infallible, 
are  either  not  of  the  importance  they  were  imagined  to  be,  or 


48  EDMUND  BURKE 

that  we  have  not  at  all  adverted  to  some  other  far  more  impor- 
tant and  far  more  powerful  principles  which  entirely  overrule 
those  we  had  considered  as  omnipotent.  I  am  much  against 
any  further  experiments  which  tend  to  put  to  the  proof  any 
more  of  these  allowed  opinions  which  contribute  so  much  to 
the  public  tranquillity.  In  effect,  we  suffer  as  much  at  home 
by  this  loosening  of  all  ties,  and  this  concussion  of  all  estab- 
lished opinions,  as  we  do  abroad.  For,  in  order  to  prove 
that  the  Americans  have  no  right  to  their  liberties,  we  are 
every  day  endeavoring  to  subvert  the  maxims  which  pre- 
serve the  whole  spirit  of  our  own.  To  prove  that  the 
Americans  ought  not  to  be  free,  we  are  obliged  to  de- 
preciate the  value  of  freedom  itself ;  and  we  never  seem 
to  gain  a  paltry  advantage  over  them  in  debate  without 
attacking  some  of  those  principles  or  deriding  some  of 
those  feelings  for  which  our  ancestors  have  shed  their 
blood. 

48.  But,  Sir,  in  wishing  to  put  an  end  to  pernicious  ex- 
periments, I  do  not  mean  to  preclude  the  fullest  inquiry. 
Far  from  it.  Far  from  deciding  on  a  sudden  or  partial 
view,  I  would  patiently  go  round  and  round  the  subject, 
and  survey  it  minutely  in  every  possible  aspect.  Sir,  if 
I  were  capable  of  engaging  you  to  an  equal  attention,  I 
would  state  that,  as  far  as  I  am  capable  of  discerning, 
there  are  but  three  ways  of  proceeding  relative  to  this 
stubborn  spirit  which  prevails  in  your  colonies  and  disturbs 
your  government.  These  are,19  to  change  that  spirit,  as 
inconvenient,  by  removing  the  causes;  to  prosecute  it  as 
criminal ;  or  to  comply  with  it  as  necessary.  I  would  not 
be  guilty  of  an  imperfect  enumeration ;  I  can  think  of 
but  these  three.  Another  has  indeed  been  started — that 
of  20  giving  up  the  colonies ;  but  it  met  so  slight  a  reception 
that  I  do  not  think  myself  obliged  to  dwell  a  great  while 
upon  it.  It  is  nothing  but  a  little  sally  of  anger,  like  the 
frowardness  of  peevish  children  who,  when  they  can  not 
get  all  they  would  have,  are  resolved  to  take  nothing. 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         49 

49.  The  first  of  these  plans,  to  change  the  spirit,  as  in- 
convenient, by  removing  the  causes,  I  think  is  the  most 
like  a  systematic  proceeding.  It  is  radical  in  its  principle; 
but  it  is  attended  with  great  difficulties,  some  of  them 
little  short,  as  I  conceive,  of  impossibilities.  This  will 
appear  by  examining  into  the  plans  which  have  been  pro- 
posed. 

50.  As  the  growing  population  in  the  colonies  is  evi- 
dently one  cause  of  their  resistance,  it  was  last  session 
mentioned  in  both  Houses  by  men  of  weight,  and  received 
not  without  applause,  that  in  order  to  check  this  evil,  it 
would  be  proper  for  the  crown  to  make  no  further  grants 
of  land.  But  to  this  scheme  there  are  two  objections. 
The  first,  that  there  is  already  so  much  unsettled  land  in 
private  hands  as  to  afford  room  for  an  immense  future 
population,  although  the  crown  not  only  withheld  its 
grants,  but  annihilated  its  soil.  If  this  be  the  case,  then 
the  only  effect  of  this  avarice  of  desolation,  this  hoarding 
of  a  royal  wilderness,  would  be  to  raise  the  value  of  the 
possessions  in  the  hands  of  the  great  private  monopolists, 
without  any  adequate  check  to  the  growing  and  alarming 
mischief  of  population. 

51.  But  if  you  stopped  your  grants,  what  would  be  the 
consequence?  The  people  would  occupy  without  grants. 
They  have  already  so  occupied  in  many  places.  You 
can  not  station  garrisons  in  every  part  of  these  deserts. 
If  you  drive  the  people  from  one  place,  they  will  carry 
on  their  annual  t'llage,  and  remove  with  their  flocks  and 
herds  to  another.  Many  of  the  people  in  the  back  settle- 
ments are  already  little  attached  to  particular  situations.  Al- 
ready they  have  topped  the  Appalachian  Mountains.  From 
thence  they  behold  before  them  an  immense  plain,  one  vast, 
rich,  level  meadow;  a  square  of  five  hundred  miles.  Over 
this  they  would  wander  without  a  possibility  of  restraint; 
they  would  change  their  manners  with  the  habits  of  their  life ; 
would  soon  forget  a  government  by  which  they  were  disowned ; 


50  EDMUND  BURKE 

would  become  hordes  of  English  Tartars;  and,  pouring  down 
upon  your  unfortified  frontiers  a  fierce  and  irresistible  cavalry, 
become  masters  of  your  governors  and  your  counselors,  your 
collectors  and  comptrollers,  and  of  all  the  slaves  that  adhered 
to  them.  Such  would,  and  in  no  long  time  must  be,  the  effect 
of  attempting  to  forbid  as  a  crime  and  to  suppress  as  an 
evil  the  command  and  blessing  of  Providence,  "  Increase  and 
multiply."  Such  would  be  the  happy  result  of  an  endeavor  to 
keep  as  a  lair  of  wild  beasts  that  earth  which  God  by  an 
express  charter  has  given  to  the  children  of  men.  Far  dif- 
ferent, and  surely  much  wiser,  has  been  our  policy  hitherto. 
Hitherto  we  have  invited  our  people,  by  every  kind  of  bounty, 
to  fixed  establishments.  We  have  invited  the  husbandman 
to  look  to  authority  for  his  title.  We  have  taught  him 
piously  to  believe  in  the  mysterious  virtue  of  wax  and  parch- 
ment. We  have  thrown  each  tract  of  land,  as  it  was  peopled, 
into  districts,  that  the  ruling  power  should  never  be  wholly 
out  of  sight.  We  have  settled  all  we  could,  and  we  have 
carefully   attended   every   settlement  with  government. 

52.  Adhering,  Sir,  as  I  do,  to  this  policy,  as  well  as  for  the 
reasons  I  have  just  given,  I  think  this  new  project  of  hedging 
in  population  to  be  neither  prudent  nor  practicable. 

53.  To  impoverish  the  colonies  in  general,  and  in  par- 
ticular to  arrest  the  noble  course  of  their  marine  enter- 
prises, would  be  a  more  easy  task.  I  freely  confess  it. 
We  have  shown  a  disposition  to  a  system  of  this  kind, 
a  disposition  even  to  continue  the  restraint  after  the 
offense,  looking  on  ourselves  as  rivals  to  our  colonies, 
and  persuaded  that  of  course  we  must  gain  all  that  they 
shall  lose.  Much  mischief  we  may  certainly  do.  The  power 
inadequate  to  all  other  things  is  often  more  than  sufficient 
for  this.  I  do  not  look  on  the  direct  and  immediate 
power  of  the  colonies  to  resist  our  violence  as  very 
formidable.  In  this,  however,  I  may  be  mistaken.  But 
when  I  consider  that  we  have  colonies  for  no  purpose  but 
to  be  serviceable  to  us,  it  seems  to  my  poor  understanding 
a  little  preposterous  to  make  them  unserviceable  in  order 
to  keep  them  obedient.  It  is,  in  truth,  nothing  more  than 
the  old,  and,  as  I  thought,  exploded  problem  of  tyranny, 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         51 

which  proposes  to  beggar  its  subjects  into  submission. 
But  remember,  when  you  have  completed  your  system  of 
impoverishment,  that  Nature  still  proceeds  in  her  ordinary 
course;  that  discontent  will  increase  with  misery;  and 
that  there  are  critical  moments  in  the  fortune  of  all 
states  when  they  who  are  too  weak  to  contribute  to 
your  prosperity  may  be  strong  enough  to  complete  your 
ruin.     Spoliatis  arma  supersunt.21 

54.  The  temper  and  character  which  prevail  in  our 
colonies  are,  I  am  afraid,  unalterable  by  any  human  art. 
We  can  not,  I  fear,  falsify  the  pedigree  of  this  fierce  peo- 
ple, and  persuade  them  that  they  are  not  sprung  from 
a  nation  in  whose  veins  the  blood  of  freedom  circulates. 
The  language  in  which  they  would  hear  you  tell  them 
this  tale  would  detect  the  imposition:  your  speech  would 
betray  you.  An  Englishman  is  the  unflttest  person  on 
earth   to   argue  another  Englishman   into   slavery. 

55.  I  think  it  is  nearly  as  little  in  our  power  to  change  their 
republican  religion  as  their  free  descent,  or  to  substitute  the 
Roman  Catholic  as  a  penalty,  or  the  Church  of  England, 
as  an  improvement.  The  mode  of  inquisition  and  dragooning 
is  going  out  of  fashion  in  the  Old  World,  and  I  should  not 
confide  much  to  their  efficacy  in  the  New.  The  education  of 
the  Americans  is  also  on  the  same  unalterable  bottom  with 
their  religion.  You  can  not  persuade  them  to  burn  their  books 
of  curious  science,  to  banish  their  lawyers  from  their  courts 
of  laws,  or  to  quench  the  lights  of  their  assemblies  by  refusing 
to  choose  those  persons  who  are  best  read  in  their  privileges. 
It  would  be  no  less  impracticable  to  think  of  wholly  annihi- 
lating the  popular  assemblies  in  which  these  lawyers  sit.  The 
army,  by  which  we  must  govern  in  their  place,  would  be  far 
more  chargeable  to  us,  not  quite  so  effectual,  and  perhaps,  in 
the  end,  full  as  difficult  to  be  kept  in  obedience. 

56.  With  regard  to  the  high  aristocratic  spirit  of  Virginia  and 
the  southern  colonies,  it  has  been  proposed,  I  know,  to  reduce 
it  by  declaring  a  general  enfranchisement  of  their  slaves.  This 
project  has  had  its  advocates  and  panegyrists,  yet  I  never 
could  argue  myself  into  any  opinion  of  it.  Slaves  are  often 
much  attached  to  their  masters.    A  general  wild  offer  of  liberty 


52  EDMUND  BURKE 

would  not  always  be  accepted.  History  furnishes  few  instances 
of  it.  It  is  sometimes  as  hard  to  persuade  slaves  to  be  free  as 
it  is  to  compel  freemen  to  be  slaves;  and  in  this  auspicious 
scheme  we  should  have  both  these  pleasing  tasks  on  our  hands 
at  once.  But  when  we  talk  of  enfranchisement,  do  we  not  per- 
ceive that  the  American  master  may  enfranchise  too,  and  arm 
servile  hands  in  defense  of  freedom — a  measure  to  which  other 
people  have  had  recourse  more  than  once,  and  not  without 
success,  in  a  desperate  situation  of  their  affairs. 

57.  Slaves  as  these  unfortunate  black  people  are,  and  dull  as 
all  men  are  from  slavery,  must  they  not  a  little  suspect  the  offer 
of  freedom  from  that  very  nation  which  has  sold  them  to  their 
present  masters? — from  that  nation  one  of  whose  causes  of 
quarrel  with  those  masters  is  their  refusal  to  deal  any  more  in 
that  inhuman  traffic?  An  offer  of  freedom  from  England  would 
come  rather  oddly,  shipped  to  them  in  an  African  vessel  which 
is  refused  an  entry  into  the  ports  of  Virginia  or  Carolina  with 
a  cargo  of  three  hundred  Angola  negroes.  It  would  be  curious 
to  see  the  Guinea  captain  attempting  at  the  same  instant  to 
publish  his  proclamation  of  liberty  and  to  advertise  his  sale  of 
slaves. 

58.  But  let  us  suppose  all  these  moral  difficulties  got 
over.  The  ocean  remains.22  You  can  not  pump  this  dry ; 
and  as  long  as  it  continues  in  its  present  bed,  so  long  all  the 
causes  which  weaken  authority  by  distance  will  continue. 

"Ye  gods,   annihilate  but  space  and  time, 
And  make  two   lovers  happy!" — 

was  a  pious  and  passionate  prayer,  but  just  as  reasonable 
as  many  of  the  serious  wishes  of  very  grave  and  solemn 
politicians. 

59.  If  then,  Sir,  it  seems  almost  desperate  to  think  of 
any  alterative  course  for  changing  the  moral  causes,  and 
not  quite  easy  to  remove  the  natural,  which  produce  preju- 
dices irreconcilable  to  the  late  exercise  of  our  authority, 
but  that  the  spirit  infallibly  will  continue,  and  continu- 
ing, will  produce  such  effects  as  now  embarrass  us — the 
second  mode  under  consideration  is  to  prosecute  that  spirit 
in  its  overt  acts  as  criminal. 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         53 

60.  At  this  proposition  I  must  pause  a  moment.  The 
thing  seems  a  great  deal  too  big  for  my  ideas  of  juris- 
prudence. It  should  seem  to  my  way  of  conceiving  such 
matters,  that  there  is  a  very  wide  difference  in  reason 
and  policy  between  the  mode  of  proceeding  on  the  irregu- 
lar conduct  of  scattered  individuals,  or  even  of  bands  of 
men,  who  disturb  order  within  the  state,  and  the  civil 
dissensions  which  may  from  time  to  time  on  great  ques- 
tions agitate  the  several  communities  which  compose  a 
great  empire.  It  looks  to  me  to  be  narrow  and  pedantic 
to  apply  the  ordinary  ideas  of  criminal  justice  to  this 
great  public  contest.  I  do  not  know  the  method  of  draw- 
ing up  an  indictment  against  a  whole  people.  I  can  not 
insult  and  ridicule  the  feelings  of  millions  of  my  fellow- 
creatures  as  Sir  Edward  Coke 23  insulted  one  excellent 
individual,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  at  the  bar.  I  hope  I 
am  not  ripe  to  pass  sentence  on  the  gravest  public  bodies, 
intrusted  with  magistracies  of  great  authority  and  dignity, 
and  charged  with  the  safety  of  their  fellow-citizens  upon 
the  very  same  title  that  I  am.  I  really  think  that  for 
wise  men  this  is  not  judicious;  for  sober  men,  not  decent; 
for  minds  tinctured  with  humanity,  not  mild  and  mer- 
ciful. 

61.  Perhaps,  Sir,  I  am  mistaken  in  my  idea  of  an  empire,  as 
distinguished  from  a  single  state  or  kingdom.  But  my  idea 
of  it  is  this:  that  an  empire  is  the  aggregate  of  many  states 
under  one  common  head,  whether  ihis  head  be  a  monarch,  or 
a  presiding  republic.  It  does,  in  such  constitutions,  frequently 
happen  (and  nothing  but  the  dismal,  cold,  dead  uniformity 
of  servitude  can  prevent  its  happening)  that  the  subordinate 
parts  have  many  local  privileges  and  immunities.  Between 
these  privileges  and  the  supreme  common  authority,  the  line 
may  be  extremely  nice.  Of  course  disputes — often,  too,  very 
bitter  disputes — and  much  ill  blood,  will  arise;  but  though 
every  privilege  is  an  exemption,  in  the  case,  from  the  ordinary 
exercise  of  the  supreme  authority,  it  is  no  denial  of  it.  The 
claim  of  a  privilege   seems  rather,  ex2*  vi  termini,  to  imply 


54  EDMUND  BURKE 

a  superior  power;  for  to  talk  of  the  privileges  of  a  state  or 
of  a  person  who  has  no  superior,  is  hardly  any  better  than 
speaking  nonsense.  Now,  in  such  unfortunate  quarrels  among 
the  component  parts  of  a  great  political  union  of  communities, 
I  can  scarcely  conceive  anything  more  completely  imprudent 
than  for  the  head  of  the  empire  to  insist  that,  if  any  privilege 
is  pleaded  against  his  will  or  his  acts,  his  whole  authority  is 
denied,  instantly  to  proclaim  rebellion,  to  beat  to  arms,  and 
to  put  the  offending  provinces  under  the  ban.  Will  not  this, 
Sir,  very  soon  teach  the  provinces  to  make  no  distinctions  on 
their  part?  Will  it  not  teach  them  that  the  government  against 
which  a  claim  of  liberty  is  tantamount  to  high  treason  is  a 
government  to  which  submission  is  equivalent  to  slavery?  It 
may  not  always  be  quite  convenient  to  impress  dependent  com- 
munities with  such  an  idea. 

62.  We  are,  indeed,  in  all  disputes  with  the  colonies,  by  the 
necessity  of  things,  the  judge.  It  is  true,  Sir.  But  I  confess 
that  the  character  of  judge  in  my  own  cause  is  a  thing  that 
frightens  me.  Instead  of  filling  me  with  pride,  I  am  exceed- 
ingly humbled  by  it.  I  can  not  proceed  with  a  stern,  assured, 
judicial  confidence,  until  I  find  myself  in  something  more  like 
a  judicial  character.  I  must  have  these  hesitations  as  long  as 
I  am  compelled  to  recollect  that,  in  my  little  reading  upon 
such  contests  as  these,  the  sense  of  mankind  has  at  least  as 
often  decided  against  the  superior  as  the  subordinate  power. 
Sir,  let  me  add,  too,  that  the  opinion  of  my  having  some  abstract 
right  in  my  favor  would  not  put  me  much  at  my  ease  in  passing 
sentence,  unless  I  could  be  sure  that  there  were  no  rights  which, 
in  their  exercise  under  certain  circumstances,  were  not  the  most 
odious  of  all  wrongs  and  the  most  vexatious  of  all  injustice. 
Sir,  these  considerations  have  great  weight  with  me  when  I 
find  things  so  circumstanced  that  I  see  the  same  party  at  once 
a  civil  litigant  against  me  in  point  of  right,  and  a  culprit 
before  me,  while  I  sit  as  a  criminal  judge  on  acts  of  his,  whose 
moral  quality  is  to  be  decided  upon  the  merits  of  that  very 
litigation.  Men  are  every  now  and  then  put  by  the  complexity 
of  human  affairs  into  strange  situations,  but  justice  is  the 
same,   let  the   judge  be  in  what  situation  he  will. 

63.  There  is,  Sir,  also  a  circumstance  which  convinces  me  that 
this  mode  of  criminal  proceeding  is  not  (at  least  in  the  present 
stage  of  our  contest)  altogether  expedient;  which  is  nothing 
less  than  the  conduct  of  those  very  persons  who  have  seemed  to 


adopt  th 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         55 

adopt  that  mode  by  lately  declaring  a  rebellion  in  Massachusetts 
Bay,  as  they  had  formerly  addressed  25  to  have  traitors  brought 
hither,  under  an  act  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  for  trial.  For 
though  rebellion  is  declared,  it  is  not  proceeded  against  as 
such;  nor  have  any  steps  been  taken  toward  the  apprehension 
or  conviction  of  any  individual  offender,  either  on  our  late  or 
our  former  address;  but  modes  of  public  coercion  have  been 
adopted,  and  such  as  have  much  more  resemblance  to  a  sort 
of  qualified  hostility  toward  an  independent  power  than  the 
punishment  of  rebellious  subjects.  All  this  seems  rather  incon- 
sistent; but  it  shows  how  difficult  it  is  to  apply  these  juridical 
ideas  to  our  present  case. 

64.  In  this  situation,  let  us  seriously  and  coolly  ponder. 
What  is  it  we  have  got  by  all  our  menaces,  which  have 
been  many  and  ferocious?  What  advantage  have  we  de- 
rived from  the  penal  laws  we  have  passed,  and  which, 
for  the  time,  have  been  severe  and  numerous?  What  ad- 
vances have  we  made  toward  our  object  by  the  sending 
of  a  force  which,  by  land  and  sea,  is  no  contemptible 
strength?  Has  the  disorder  abated?  Nothing  less. 
When  I  see  things  in  this  situation,  after  such  confident 
hopes,  bold  promises,  and  active  exertions,  I  can  not  for 
my  life  avoid  a  suspicion  that  the  plan  itself  is  not  cor- 
rectly right. 

65.  If,  then,  the  removal  of  the  causes  of  this  spirit  of 
American  liberty  be,  for  the  greater  part,  or  rather  en- 
tirely, impracticable,  if  the  ideas  of  criminal  process  be 
inapplicable,  or,  if  applicable,  are  in  the  highest  degree 
inexpedient,  what  way  yet  remains?  No  way  is  open 
but  the  third  and  last — to  comply  with  the  American  spirit 
as  necessary,  or,  if  you  please,  to  submit  to  it  as  a  nec- 
essary evil.26 

66.  If  we  adopt  this  mode,  if  we  mean  to  conciliate 
and  concede,  let  us  see  of  what  nature  the  concession  ought 
to  be.  To  ascertain  the  nature  of  our  concession,  we  must 
look  at  their  complaint.  The  colonies  complain  that  they 
have  not  the  characteristic  mark  and  seal  of  British  free- 


56  EDMUND  BURKE 

dom.  They  complain  that  they  are  taxed  in  a  Parliament 
in  which  they  are  not  represented.  If  you  mean  to  satisfy 
them  at  all,  you  must  satisfy  them  with  regard  to  this 
complaint.  If  you  mean  to  please  any  people,  you  must 
give  them  the  boon  which  they  ask,  not  what  you  may 
think  better  for  them  but  of  a  kind  totally  different. 
Such  an  act  may  be  a  wise  regulation,  but  it  is  no  con- 
cession; whereas  our  present  theme  is  the  mode  of  giving 
satisfaction. 

67.  Sir,  I  think  you  must  perceive  that  I  am  resolved 
this  day  to  have  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the  question 
of  the  right  of  taxation.  Some  gentlemen  startle,  but  it  is 
true;  I  put  it  totally  out  of  the  question.  It  is  less  than 
nothing  in  my  consideration.  I  do  not  indeed  wonder, 
nor  will  you,  Sir,  that  gentlemen  of  profound  learning 
are  fond  of  displaying  it  on  this  profound  subject.  But 
my  consideration  is  narrow,  confined,  and  wholly  limited 
to  the  policy  of  the  question.  I  do  not  examine  whether 
the  giving  away  a  man's  money  be  a  power  excepted  and 
reserved  out  of  the  general  trust  of  government ;  and  how 
far  all  mankind,  in  all  forms  of  polity,  are  entitled  to  an 
exercise  of  that  right  by  the  charter  of  nature;  or  whether, 
on  the  contrary,  a  right  of  taxation  is  necessarily  involved 
in  the  general  principle  of  legislation,  and  inseparable 
from  the  ordinary  supreme  power.  These  are  deep  ques- 
tions, where  great  names  militate  against  each  other; 
where  reason  is  perplexed,  and  an  appeal  to  authorities 
only  thickens  the  confusion;  for  high  and  reverend  au- 
thorities lift  up  their  heads  on  both  sides,  and  there  is  no 
sure  footing  in  the  middle.    This  point  is  the  great 

"  Serbonian   bog, 

Betwixt  Damiata  and   Mount   Casius  old, 

Where    armies   whole    have    sunk." 

I  do  not  intend  to  be  overwhelmed  in  that  bog,  though 
in  such  respectable  company.     The  question  with  me  is, 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         57 


not  whether  you  have  a  right  to  render  your  people  miser- 
able, but  whether  it  is  not  your  interest  to  make  them 
happy.  It  is  not  what  a  lawyer  tells  me  I  may  do,  but 
what  humanity,  reason,  and  justice  tell  me  I  ought  to  do. 
Is  a  politic  act  the  worse  for  being  a  generous  one?  Is 
no  concession  proper  but  that  which  is  made  from  your 
want  of  right  to  keep  what  you  grant?  Or  does  it  lessen 
the  grace  or  dignity  of  relaxing  in  the  exercise  of  an 
odious  claim,  because  you  have  your  evidence-room  full  of 
titles,  and  your  magazines  stuffed  with  arms  to  enforce 
them?  What  signify  all  those  titles  and  all  those  arms? 
Of  what  avail  are  they  when  the  reason  of  the  thing  tells 
me  that  the  assertion  of  my  title  is  the  loss  of  my  suit, 
and  that  I  could  do  nothing  but  wound  myself  by  the 
use  of  my  own  weapons? 

68.  Such  is  steadfastly  my  opinion  of  the  absolute 
necessity  of  keeping  up  the  concord  of  this  empire  by  a 
unity  of  spirit,  though  in  a  diversity  of  operations,  that  if 
I  were  sure  the  colonists  had,  at  their  leaving  this  coun- 
try, sealed  a  regular  compact  of  servitude;  that  they  had 
solemnly  abjured  all  the  rights  of  citizens;  that  they  had 
made  a  vow  to  renounce  all  ideas  of  liberty  for  them  and 
their  posterity  to  all  generations ;  yet  I  should  hold  myself 
obliged  to  conform  to  the  temper  I  found  universally 
prevalent  in  my  own  day,  and  to  govern  two  millions  of 
men,  impatient  of  servitude,  on  the  principles  of  freedom. 
I  am  not  determining  a  point  of  law;  I  am  restoring  tran- 
quillity; and  the  general  character  and  situation  of  a 
people  must  determine  what  sort  of  government  is  fitted 
for  them.  That  point  nothing  else  can  or  ought  to  deter- 
mine. 

69.  My  idea,  therefore,  without  considering  whether 
we  yield  as  matter  of  right  or  grant  as  matter  of  favor,  is 
to  admit  the  people  of  our  colonies  into  an  interest  in  the 
Constitution;   and    by    recording   that    admission    in    the 


58  EDMUND  BURKE 

journals  of  Parliament,  to  give  them  as  strong  an  assur- 
ance as  the  nature  of  the  thing  will  admit,  that  we  mean 
forever  to  adhere  to  that  solemn  declaration  of  systematic 
indulgence. 

70.  Some  years  ago,  the  repeal  of  27  a  revenue  act  upon 
its  understood  principle  might  have  served  to  show  that 
we  intended  an  unconditional  abatement  of  the  exercise  of 
a  taxing  power.  Such  a  measure  was  then  sufficient  to 
remove  all  suspicion  and  to  give  perfect  content.  But 
unfortunate  events  since  that  time  may  make  something 
further  necessary,  and  not  more  necessary  for  the  satis- 
faction of  the  colonies  than  for  the  dignity  and  con- 
sistency of  our  own  future  proceedings. 

71.  I  have  taken  a  very  incorrect  measure  of  the  disposition 
of  the  House,  if  this  proposal  in  itself  would  be  received  with 
dislike.  I  think,  Sir,  we  have  few  American  financiers.  But 
our  misfortune  is,  we  are  too  acute;  we  are  too  exquisite  in 
our  conjectures  of  the  future  for  men  oppressed  with  such 
great  and  present  evils.  The  more  moderate  among  the 
opposers  of  parliamentary  concession  freely  confess  that  they 
hope  no  good  from  taxation;  but  they  apprehend  the  colonists 
have  further  views;  and  if  this  point  were  conceded,  they 
would  instantly  attack  the  trade  laws.  These  gentlemen  are 
convinced  that  this  was  the  intention  from  the  beginning,  and 
the  quarrel  of  the  Americans  with  taxation  was  no  more  than 
a  cloak  and  cover  to  this  design.  Such  has  been  the  language, 
even  of  a  gentleman  of  real  moderation  and  of  a  natural 
temper  well  adjusted  to  fair  and  equal  government.  I  am, 
however,  Sir,  not  a  little  surprised  at  this  kind  of  discourse 
whenever  I  hear  it;  and  I  am  the  more  surprised  on  account 
of  the  arguments  which  I  constantly  find  in  company  with  it, 
and  which  are  often  urged  from  the  same  mouths  and  on  the 
same   day. 

72.  For  instance,  when  we  allege  that  it  is  against  reason  to 
tax  a  people  under  so  many  restraints  in  trade  as  the  Ameri- 
cans, the  noble  lord  in  the  blue  ribbon  shall  tell  you  that  the 
restraints  on  trade  are  futile  and  useless,  of  no  advantage 
to  us,  and  of  no  burden  to  those  on  whom  they  are  imposed ; 
that  the  trade  to  America  is  not  secured  by  the  Acts  of  Nav- 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         59 

igation,    but    by    the   natural    and    irresistible    advantage    of    a 
commercial  preference. 

73.  Such  is  the  merit  of  the  trade  laws  in  this  posture  of  the 
debate.  But  when  strong  internal  circumstances  are  urged 
against  the  taxes;  when  the  scheme  is  dissected;  when  ex- 
perience and  the  nature  of  things  are  brought  to  prove,  and 
do  prove,  the  utter  impossibility  of  obtaining  an  effective 
revenue  from  the  colonies;  when  these  things  are  pressed,  or 
rather  press  themselves,  so  as  to  drive  the  advocates  of  colony 
taxes  to  a  clear  admission  of  the  futility  of  the  scheme — then, 
Sir,  the  sleeping  trade  laws  revive  from  their  trance,  and  this 
useless  taxation  is  to  be  kept  sacred,  not  for  its  own  sake, 
but  as  a  counterguard  and  security  of  the   laws  of  trade. 

74.  Then,  Sir,  you  keep  up  revenue  laws  which  are  mischiev- 
ous, in  order  to  preserve  trade  laws  that  are  useless.  Such  is 
the  wisdom  "of  our  plan  in  both  its  members.  They  are  sepa- 
rately given  up  as  of  no  value,  and  yet  one  is  always  to  be 
defended  for  the  sake  of  the  other.  But  I  can  not  agree  with 
the  noble  lord  nor  with  the  pamphlet  from  whence  he  seems 
to  have  borrowed  these  ideas  concerning  the  inutility  of  the  trade 
laws;  for,  without  idolizing  them,  I  am  sure  they  are  still 
in  many  ways  of  great  use  to  us;  and  in  former  times  they 
have  been  of  the  greatest.  They  do  confine  and  they  do 
greatly  narrow  the  market  for  the  Americans.  But  my  per- 
fect conviction  of  this  does  not  help  me  in  the  least  to  dis- 
cern how  the  revenue  laws  form  any  security  whatsoever  to 
the  commercial  regulations;  or  that  these  commercial  regula- 
tions are  the  true  ground  of  the  quarrel;  or  that  the  giving 
way,  in  any  one  instance,  of  authority,  is  to  lose  all  that  may 
remain   unconceded. 

75.  One  fact  is  clear  and  indisputable:  the  public  and 
avowed  origin  of  this  quarrel  was  on  taxation.  This 
quarrel  has  indeed  brought  on  new  disputes  on  new 
questions,  but  certainly  the  least  bitter  and  the  fewest 
of  all  on  the  trade  laws.  To  judge  which  of  the  two  be 
the  real,  radical  cause  of  quarrel,  we  have  to  see  whether 
the  commercial  dispute  did  in  order  of  time  precede 
the  dispute  on  taxation.  There  is  not  a  shadow  of 
evidence  for  it.  Next,  to  enable  us  to  judge  whether  at 
this  moment  a  dislike  to  the  trade  laws  be  the  real  cause 


60  EDMUND  BURKE 

of  quarrel,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  put  the  taxes  out 
of  the  question  by  a  repeal.  See  how  the  Americans  act 
in  this  position,  and  then  you  will  be  able  to  discern 
correctly  what  is  the  true  object  of  the  controversy,  or 
whether  any  controversy  at  all  will  remain.  Unless  you 
consent  to  remove  this  cause  of  difference,  it  is  impos- 
sible, with  decency,  to  assert  that  the  dispute  is  not  upon 
what  it  is  avowed  to  be.  And  I  would,  Sir,  recommend 
to  your  serious  consideration,  whether  it  be  prudent  to 
form  a  rule  for  punishing  people,  not  on  their  own  acts, 
but  on  your  conjectures?  Surely  it  is  preposterous  at 
the  very  best.  It  is  not  justifying  your  anger  by  their 
misconduct,  but  it  is  converting  your  ill  will  into  their 
delinquency. 

76.  "  But  the  colonies  will  go  further. "  28  Alas!  alas! 
when  will  this  speculating  against  fact  and  reason  end? 
What  will  quiet  these  panic  fears  which  we  entertain  of 
the  hostile  effect  of  a  conciliatory  conduct?  Is  it  true 
that  no  case  can  exist  in  which  it  is  proper  for  the  sov- 
ereign to  accede  to  the  desires  of  his  discontented  sub- 
jects? Is  there  anything  peculiar  in  this  case  to  make  a 
rule  for  itself?  Is  all  authority  of  course  lost  when  it  is 
not  pushed  to  the  extreme?  Is  it  a  certain  maxim  that 
the  fewer  causes  of  dissatisfaction  are  left  by  govern- 
ment, the  more  the  subject  will  be  inclined  to  resist  and 
rebel ? 

77.  All  these  objections  being  in  fact  no  more  than  sus- 
picions, conjectures,  divinations,  formed  in  defiance  of 
fact  and  experience,  they  did  not,  Sir,  discourage  me 
from  entertaining  the  idea  of  a  conciliatory  concession, 
founded  on  the  principles  which  I  have  just  stated. 

78.  In  forming  a  plan  for  this  purpose,  I  endeavored 
to  put  myself  in  that  frame  of  mind  which  was  the  most 
natural  and  the  most  reasonable  and  which  was  cer- 
tainly the  most  probable  means  of  securing  me  from  all 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         61 

error.  I  set  out  with  a  perfect  distrust  of  my  own 
abilities;  a  total  renunciation  of  every  speculation  of 
my  own;  and  with  a  profound  reverence  for  the  wisdom 
of  our  ancestors,  who  have  left  us  the  inheritance  of  so 
happy  a  constitution  and  so  flourishing  an  empire,  and 
what  is  a  thousand  times  more  valuable — the  treasury  of 
the  maxims  and  principles  which  formed  the  one  and 
obtained  the  other. 

79.  During  the  reigns  of  the  kings  of  Spain  of  the  Aus- 
trian family,  whenever  they  were  at  a  loss  in  the  Spanish 
councils,  it  was  common  for  their  statesmen  to  say  that 
they  ought  to  consult  the  genius  of  Philip  the  Second. 
The  genius  of  Philip  the  Second  29  might  mislead  them, 
and  the  issue  of  their  affairs  showed  that  they  had  not 
chosen  the  most  perfect  standard.  But,  Sir,  I  am  sure 
that  I  shall  not  be  misled  when,  in  a  case  of  constitu- 
tional difficulty,  I  consult  the  genius  of  the  English  Con- 
stitution.30 Consulting  at  that  oracle  (it  was  with  all 
due  humility  and  piety)  I  found  four  capital  examples 
in  a  similar  case  before  me:  those  of  Ireland,  Wales, 
Chester,  and  Durham. 

80.  Ireland,  before  the  English  conquest,  though  never  gov- 
erned by  a  despotic  power,  had  no  parliament.  How  far  the 
English  Parliament  itself  was  at  that  time  modeled  according  to 
the  present  form,  is  disputed  among  antiquarians.  But  we 
have  all  the  reason  in  the  world  to  be  assured  that  a  form 
of  parliament  such  as  England  then  enjoyed,  she  instantly 
communicated  to  Ireland;  and  we  are  equally  sure  that  almost 
every  successive  improvement  in  constitutional  liberty,  as  fast 
as  it  was  made  here,  was  transmitted  thither.  The  feudal 
baronage  and  the  feudal  knighthood,  the  roots  of  our  primi- 
tive constitution,  were  early  transplanted  into  that  soil,  and 
grew  and  flourished  there.  Magna  Charta,  if  it  did  not  give 
us  originally  the  House  of  Commons,  gave  us  at  least  a  House 
of  Commons  of  weight  and  consequence.  But  your  ancestors 
did  not  churlishly  sit  down  alone  to  the  feast  of  Magna  Charta. 
Ireland  was  made  immediately  a  partaker.  This  benefit  of 
English  laws  and  liberties,  I  confess,  was  not  at  first  extended 


62  EDMUND  BURKE 

to  all  Ireland.  Mark  the  consequence:  English  authority  and 
English  liberties  had  exactly  the  same  boundaries.  Your 
standard  could  never  be  advanced  an  inch  before  your  privi- 
leges. Sir  John  Davies  shows  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  refusal 
of  a  general  communication  of  these  rights  was  the  true  cause 
why  Ireland  was  five  hundred  years  in  subduing;  and  after 
the  vain  projects  of  a  military  government,  attempted  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  it  was  soon  discovered  that  nothing 
could  make  that  country  English  in  civility  and  allegiance 
but  your  laws  and  your  forms  of  legislature.  It  was  not 
English  arms,  but  the  English  Constitution,  that  conquered 
Ireland.  From  that  time  Ireland  has  ever  had  a  general  par- 
liament, as  she  had  before  a  partial  parliament.  You  changed 
the  people;  you  altered  the  religion;  but  you  never  touched 
the  form  or  the  vital  substance  of  free  government  in  that 
kingdom.  You  deposed  kings;  you  restored  them;  you  altered 
the  succession  to  theirs,  as  well  as  to  your  own  crown;  but 
you  never  altered  their  constitution,  the  principle  of  which 
was  respected  by  usurpation,  restored  with  the  restoration  of 
monarchy,  and  established,  I  trust,  forever,  by  the  glorious 
Revolution.  This  has  made  Ireland  the  great  and  flourishing 
kingdom  that  it  is;  and  from  a  disgrace  and  a  burden  in- 
tolerable to  this  nation,  has  rendered  her  a  principal  part 
of  our  strength  and  ornament.  This  country  can  not  be  said 
to  have  ever  formally  taxed  her.  The  irregular  things  done 
in  the  confusion  of  mighty  troubles  and  on  the  hinge  of  great 
revolutions,  even  if  all  were  done  that  is  said  to  have  been 
done,  form  no  example.  If  they  have  any  effect  in  argument, 
they  make  an  exception  to  prove  the  rule.  None  of  your  own 
liberties  could  stand  a  moment,  if  the  casual  deviations  from 
them  at  such  times  were  suffered  to  be  used  as  proofs  of  their 
nullity.  By  the  lucrative  amount  of  such  casual  breaches  in 
the  Constitution,  judge  what  the  stated  and  fixed  rule  of 
supply  has  been  in  that  kingdom.  Your  Irish  pensioners  would 
starve  if  they  had  no  other  fund  to  live  on  than  taxes  granted 
by  English  authority.  Turn  your  eyes  to  those  popular  grants 
from  whence  all  your  great  supplies  are  come,  and  learn  to 
respect  that  only  source  of  public  wealth  in  the  British  Empire. 
81.  My  next  example  is  Wales.  This  country  was  said  to  be 
reduced  by  Henry  the  Third.  It  was  said  more  truly  to  be 
so  by  Edward  the  First.  But  though  then  conquered,  it  was 
not   looked   upon   as   any  part  of   the   realm   of   England.     Its 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         63 

old  constitution,  whatever  that  might  have  been,  was  destroyed ; 
and  no  good  one  was  substituted  in  its  place.  The  care  of 
that  tract  was  put  into  the  hands  of  lords  marchers — a  form 
of  government  of  a  very  singular  kind;  a  strange  heterogeneous 
monster,  something  between  hostility  and  government;  perhaps 
it  has  a  sort  of  resemblance,  according  to  the  modes  of  those 
times,  to  that  of  commander  in  chief  at  present,  to  whom  all 
civil  power  is  granted  as  secondary.  The  manners  of  the 
Welsh  nation  followed  the  genius  of  the  government:  the 
people  were  ferocious,  restive,  savage,  and  uncultivated,  some- 
times composed,  never  pacified.  Wales,  within  itself,  was 
in  perpetual  disorder;  and  it  kept  the  frontier  of  England 
in  perpetual  alarm.  Benefits  from  it  to  the  state  there  were 
none.  Wales  was  only  known  to  England  by  incursion  and 
invasion. 

82.  Sir,  during  that  state  of  things,  Parliament  was  not  idle. 
They  attempted  to  subdue  the  fierce  spirit  of  the  Welsh  by 
all  sorts  of  rigorous  laws.  They  prohibited  by  statute  the 
sending  all  sorts  of  arms  into  Wales,  as  you  prohibit  by 
proclamation  (with  something  more  of  doubt  on  the  legality) 
the  sending  arms  to  America.  They  disarmed  the  Welsh  by 
statute,  as  you  attempted  (but  still  with  more  question  on 
the  legality)  to  disarm  New  England  by  an  instruction.  They 
made  an  act  to  drag  offenders  from  Wales  into  England  for 
trial,  as  you  have  done  (but  with  more  hardship)  with  regard 
to  America.  By  another  act,  where  one  of  the  parties  was 
an  Englishman,  they  ordained  that  his  trial   should  be   always 

.by  English.  They  made  acts  to  restrain  trade,  as  you  do; 
and  they  prevented  the  Welsh  from  the  use  of  fairs  and 
markets,  as  you  do  the  Americans  from  fisheries  and  foreign 
ports.  In  short,  when  the  statute  book  was  not  quite  so  much 
swelled  as  it  is  now,  you  find  no  less  than  fifteen  acts  of 
penal    regulation   on   the    subject   of   Wales. 

83.  Here  we  rub  our  hands.  "A  fine  body  of  precedents  for 
the  authority  of  Parliament  and  the  use  of  it!"  I  admit  it 
fully;  and  pray  add  likewise  to  these  precedents,  that  all  the 
while  Wales  rid  this  kingdom  like  an  incubus;  that  it  was 
an  unprofitable  and  oppressive  burden;  and  that  an  English- 
man traveling  in  that  country  could  not  go  six  yards  from  the 
highroad   without  being   murdered. 

84.  The  march  of  the  human  mind  is  slow.  Sir,  it  was  not 
until    after  two   hundred   years   discovered    that,   by    an   eternal 


64  EDMUND  BURKE 

law,  Providence  had  decreed  vexation  to  violence,  and  pov- 
erty to  rapine.  Your  ancestors  did,  however,  at  length  open 
their  eyes  to  the  ill-husbandry  of  injustice.  They  found  that 
the  tyranny  of  a  free  people  could  of  all  tyrannies  the  least 
be  endured;  and  that  laws  made  against  a  whole  nation  were 
not  the  most  effectual  methods  for  securing  its  obedience. 
Accordingly,  in  the  twenty-seventh  year  of  Henry  the  Eighth, 
the  course  was  entirely  altered.  With  a  preamble  stating  the 
entire  and  perfect  rights  of  the  crown  of  England,  it  gave  to 
the  Welsh  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  English  subjects. 
A  political  order  was  established;  the  military  power  gave 
way  to  the  civil;  the  marches  were  turned  into  counties.  But 
that  a  nation  should  have  a  right  to  English  liberties,  and 
yet  no  share  at  all  in  the  fundamental  security  of  these  lib- 
erties— the  grant  of  their  own  property — seemed  a  thing  so 
incongruous  that,  eight  years  after — that  is,  in  the  thirty-fifth 
of  that  reign — a  complete  and  not  ill-proportioned  representa- 
tion by  counties  and  boroughs  was  bestowed  upon  Wales  by  act 
of  Parliament.  From  that  moment,  as  by  a  charm,  the  tumults 
subsided,  obedience  was  restored,  peace,  order,  and  civilization 
followed  in  the  train  of  liberty.  When  the  day-star  of  the 
English  Constitution  had  arisen  in  their  hearts,  all  was  har- 
mony within   and  without — 

"  Simul  alba  nautis 

Stella  refulsit, 
Defluit  saxis  agitatus  humor; 
Concidunt  venti,  fugiuntque  nubes, 
Et  minax   (quod  sic  voluere)    ponto 

Unda  recumbit."  31 

85.  The  very  same  year  the  county  palatine  of  Chester  re- 
ceived the  same  relief  from  its  oppressions  and  the  same  remedy 
to  its  disorders.  Before  this  time  Chester  was  little  less  dis- 
tempered than  Wales.  The  inhabitants,  without  rights  them- 
selves, were  the  fittest  to  destroy  the  rights  of  others;  and 
from  thence  Richard  the  Second  drew  the  standing  army  of 
archers  with  which  for  a  time  he  oppressed  England.  The  peo- 
ple of  Chester  applied  to  Parliament  in  a  petition  penned  as 
I  shall  read  to  you: 

86.  "  To  the  king  our  sovereign  lord,  in  most  humble  wise 
shewen  unto  your  most  excellent  Majesty,  the  inhabitants  of 
your  Grace's  county  palatine  of   Chester:    (1)    That  where  the 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         65 

said  county  palatine  of  Chester  is  and  hath  been  always  hitherto 
exempt,  excluded  and  separated  out  and  from  your  high  court 
of  Parliament,  to  have  any  knights  and  burgesses  within  the 
said  court;  by  reason  whereof  the  said  inhabitants  have  hitherto 
sustained  manifold  disherisons,  losses,  and  damages,  as  well  in 
their  lands,  goods,  and  bodies,  as  in  the  good,  civil,  and  politic 
governance  and  maintenance  of  the  commonwealth  of  their  said 
country:  (2)  And  forasmuch  as  the  said  inhabitants  have 
always  hitherto  been  bound  by  the  acts  and  statutes  made  and 
ordained  by  your  said  Highness,  and  your  most  noble  progeni- 
tors, by  authority  of  the  said  court,  as  far  forth  as  other 
counties,  cities,  and  boroughs  have  been,  that  have  had  their 
knights  and  burgesses  within  your  said  court  of  Parliament, 
and  yet  have  had  neither  knight  ne  burgess  there  for  the  said 
county  palatine;  the  said  inhabitants,  for  lack  thereof,  have 
been  oftentimes  touched  and  grieved  with  acts  and  statutes 
made  within  the  said  court,  as  well  derogatory  unto  the  most 
ancient  jurisdictions,  liberties,  and  privileges  of  your  said 
county  palatine,  as  prejudicial  unto  the  commonwealth,  quiet- 
ness, rest,  and  peace  of  your  Grace's  most  bounden  subjects 
inhabiting  within  the  same." 

87.  What  did  Parliament  with  this  audacious  address?  Re- 
ject it  as  a  libel?  Treat  it  as  an  affront  to  government?  Spurn 
it  as  a  derogation  from  the  rights  of  legislature?  Did  they 
toss  it  over  the  table?  Did  they  burn  it  by  the  hands  of  the 
common  hangman?  They  took  the  petition  of  grievance,  all 
rugged  as  it  was,  without  softening  or  temperament,  unpurged 
of  the  original  bitterness  and  indignation  of  complaint;  they 
made  it  the  very  preamble  to  their  act  of  redress,  and  con- 
secrated its  principle  to  all  ages  in  the  sanctuary  of  legislation. 

88.  Here  is  my  third  example.  It  was  attended  with  the  suc- 
cess of  the  two  former.  Chester,  civilized  as  well  as  Wales,  has 
demonstrated  that  freedom,  and  not  servitude,  is  the  cure  of 
anarchy;  as  religion,  and  not  atheism,  is  the  true  remedy  for 
superstition.  Sir,  this  pattern  of  Chester  was  followed  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  the  Second  with  regard  to  the  county  palatine 
of  Durham,  which  is  my  fourth  example.  This  county  had 
long  lain  out  of  the  pale  of  free  legislation.  So  scrupulously 
was  the  example  of  Chester  followed,  that  the  style  of  the  pre- 
amble is  nearly  the  same  with  that  of  the  Chester  Act;  and 
without  affecting  the  abstract  extent  of  the  authority  of  Parlia- 
ment, it  recognizes  the  equity  of  not  suffering  any  considerable 


66  EDMUND  BURKE 

district  in  which  the  British  subjects  may  act  as  a  body  to  be 
taxed   without   their   own   voice   in   the   grant. 

89.  Now,  if  the  doctrines  of  policy  contained  in  these 
preambles,  and  the  force  of  these  examples  in  the  acts  of 
Parliament,  avail  anything,  what  can  be  said  against 
applying  them  with  regard  to  America?  Are  not  the 
people  of  America  as  much  Englishmen  as  the  Welsh? 
The  preamble  of  the  Act  of  Henry  the  Eighth  says  the 
Welsh  speak  a  language  no  way  resembling  that  of  his 
Majesty's  English  subjects.  Are  the  Americans  not  as 
numerous?  If  we  may  trust  the  learned  and  accurate 
Judge  Barrington's  account  of  North  Wales,  and  take 
that  as  a  standard  to  measure  the  rest,  there  is  no  com- 
parison. The  people  can  not  amount  to  above  200,000 
■ — not  a  tenth  part  of  the  number  in  the  colonies.  Is 
America  in  rebellion?  Wales  was  hardly  ever  free  from 
it.  Have  you  attempted  to  govern  America  by  penal 
statutes?  You  made  fifteen  for  Wales.  But  your  legis- 
lative authority  is  perfect  with  regard  to  America! 
Was  it  less  perfect  in  Wales,  Chester,  and  Durham? 
But  America  is  virtually  represented!  What!  does 
the  electric  force  of  virtual  representation  more  easily 
pass  over  the  Atlantic  than  pervade  Wales,  which  lies 
in  your  neighborhood  ?  or  than  Chester  and  Durham,  sur- 
rounded by  abundance  of  representation  that  is  actual  and 
palpable?  But,  Sir,  your  ancestors  thought  this  sort  of 
virtual  representation,  however  ample,  to  be  totally  in- 
sufficient for  the  freedom  of  the  inhabitants  of  terri- 
tories that  are  so  near  and  comparatively  so  inconsider- 
able. How  then  can  I  think  it  sufficient  for  those  which 
are  infinitely  greater  and  infinitely  more  remote? 

90.  You  will  now,  Sir,  perhaps,  imagine  that  I  am  on 
the  point  of  proposing  to  you  a  scheme  for  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  colonies  in  Parliament.  Perhaps  I  might 
be  inclined  to  entertain  some  such  thought,  but  a  great 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         67 

flood  stops  me  in  my  course.  Opposuit  natura  32 — I  can 
not  remove  the  eternal  barriers  of  the  creation.  The 
thing,  in  that  mode,  I  do  not  know  to  be  possible.  As 
I  meddle  with  no  theory,  I  do  not  absolutely  assert  the 
impracticability  of  such  a  representation.  But  I  do  not 
see  my  way  to  it;  and  those  who  have  been  more  confi- 
dent have  not  been  more  successful.  However,  the  arm 
of  public  benevolence  is  not  shortened,  and  there  are 
often  several  means  to  the  same  end.  What  Nature  has 
disjoined  in  one  way,  Wisdom  may  unite  in  another. 
When  we  can  not  give  the  benefit  as  we  would  wish, 
let  us  not  refuse  it  altogether.  If  we  can  not  give  the 
principal,  let  us  find  a  substitute.  But  how?  Where? 
What  substitute? 

91.  Fortunately  I  am  not  obliged  for  the  ways  and 
means  of  this  substitute  to  tax  my  own  unproductive  in- 
vention. I  am  not  even  obliged  to  go  to  the  rich  treasury 
of  the  fertile  framers  of  imaginary  commonwealths;  not 
to  the  Republic  of  Plato ; 33  not  to  the  Utopia  of  More ; 
not  to  the  Oceana  of  Harrington.  It  is  before  me;  it 
is  at  my  feet — 

"  and  the  rude  swain 
Treads   daily   on   it   with   his   clouted    shoon." 

I  only  wish  you  to  recognize,  for  the  theory,  the  ancient 
constitutional  policy  of  this  kingdom  with  regard  to  rep- 
resentation, as  that  policy  has  been  declared  in  acts  of 
Parliament;  and  as  to  the  practice,  to  return  to  that 
mode  which  a  uniform  experience  has  marked  out  to 
you  as  best,  and  in  which  you  walked  with  security, 
advantage,  and  honor,  until  the  year  1763.34 

92.  My  resolutions  therefore  mean  to  establish  the 
equity  and  justice  of  a  taxation  of  America  by  grant,  and 
not  by  imposition;^  to  mark  the  legal  competency  of  the 
colony  assemblies  for  the  support   of   their  government 


68  EDMUND  BURKE 

in  peace,  and  for  public  aids  in  time  of  war;  to  acknowl- 
edge that  this  legal  competency  has  had  a  dutiful  and 
beneficial  exercise;  and  that  experience  has  shown  the 
benefit  of  their  grants  and  the  futility  of  parliamentary 
taxation  as  a  method  of  supply, 

93.  These  solid  truths  compose  six  fundamental  propositions. 
There  are  three  more  resolutions  corollary  to  these.  If  you 
admit  the  first  set,  you  can  hardly  reject  the  others.  But  if 
you  admit  the  first,  I  shall  be  far  from  solicitous  whether 
you  accept  or  refuse  the  last.  I  think  these  six  massive  pillars 
will  be  of  strength  sufficient  to  support  the  temple  of  British 
concord.  I  have  no  more  doubt  than  I  entertain  of  my  exist- 
ence that,  if  you  admitted  these,  you  would  command  an  imme- 
diate peace,  and,  with  but  tolerable  future  management,  a 
lasting  obedience  in  America.  I  am  not  arrogant  in  this 
confident  assurance.  The  propositions  are  all  mere  matters 
of  fact;  and  if  they  are  such  facts  as  draw  irresistible  con- 
clusions even  in  the  stating,  this  is  the  power  of  truth,  and  not 
any   management   of  mine. 

94.  Sir,  I  shall  open  the  whole  plan  to  you,  together  with 
such  observations  on  the  motions  as  may  tend  to  illustrate  them 
where  they  may  want  explanation.     The  first  is  a  resolution — 

95.  I.  "That  the  colonies  and  plantations  of  Great  Britain 
in  North  America,  consisting  of  fourteen 36  separate  govern- 
ments and  containing  two  millions  and  upwards  of  free  in- 
habitants, have  not  had  the  liberty  and  privilege  of  electing 
and  sending  any  knights  and  burgesses,  or  others,  to  represent 
them  in  the  high  court  of  Parliament." 

This  is  a  plain  matter  of  fact,  necessary  to  be  laid  down,  and, 
excepting  the  description,  it  is  laid  down  in  the  language 
of  the  constitution:  it  is  taken  nearly  verbatim  from  acts  of 
Parliament. 

The  second  is  like  unto  the  first — 

96.  II.  "That  the  said  colonies  and  plantations  have  been 
liable  to,  and  bounden  by,  several  subsidies,  payments,  rates, 
and  taxes,  given  and  granted  by  Parliament,  though  the  said 
colonies  and  plantations  have  not  their  knights  and  burgesses  in 
the  said  high  court  of  Parliament,  of  their  own  election,  to  rep- 
resent the  coadition  of  their  country;  by  lack  whereof  they  have 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         69 

been  oftentimes  touched  and  grieved  by  subsidies  given,  granted, 
and  assented  to  in  the  said  court,  in  a  manner  prejudicial  to  the 
commonwealth,  quietness,  rest,  and  peace  of  the  subjects  in- 
habiting within  the  same." 

97.  Is  this  description  too  hot  or  too  cold,  too  strong  or  too 
weak?  Does  it  arrogate  too  much  to  the  supreme  legislature? 
Does  it  lean  too  much  to  the  claims  of  the  people?  If  it  runs 
into  any  of  these  errors,  the  fault  is  not  mine.  It  is  the  lan- 
guage of  your  own   ancient   acts  of  Parliament. 

"  Non  meus  hie  sermo,  sed  quae  praecepit  Ofellus, 
Rusticus,    abnormis   sapiens." 37 

It  is  the  genuine  produce  of  the  ancient,  rustic,  manly,  home- 
bred sense  of  this  country.  I  did  not  dare  to  rub  off  a  particle 
of  the  venerable  rust  that  rather  adorns  and  preserves  than 
destroys,  the  metal.  It  would  be  a  profanation  to  touch  with 
a  tool  the  stones  which  construct  the  sacred  altar  of  peace.  I 
would  not  violate  with  modern  polish  the  ingenuous  and  noble 
roughness  of  these  truly  constitutional  materials.  Above  all 
things,  I  was  resolved  not  to  be  guilty  of  tampering — the  odious 
vice  of  restless  and  unstable  minds.  I  put  my  foot  in  the 
tracks  of  our  forefathers,  where  I  can  neither  wander  nor 
stumble.  Determining  to  fix  articles  of  peace,  I  was  resolved 
not  to  be  wise  beyond  what  was  written.  I  was  resolved  to 
use  nothing  else  than  the  form  of  sound  words,  to  let  others 
abound  in  their  own  sense,  and  carefully  to  abstain  from  all 
expressions  of  my  own.  What  the  law  has  said,  I  say.  In  all 
things  else  I  am  silent.  I  have  no  organ  but  for  her  words. 
This,  if  it  be  not  ingenious,   I   am  sure  is  safe. 

98.  There  are  indeed  words  expressive  of  grievance  in  this 
second  resolution  which  those  who  are  resolved  always  to  be 
in  the  right  will  deny  to  contain  matter  of  fact  as  applied 
to  the  present  case,  although  Parliament  thought  them  true 
with  regard  to  the  counties  of  Chester  and  Durham.  They 
will  deny  that  the  Americans  were  ever  "  touched  and  grieved  " 
with  the  taxes.  If  they  consider  nothing  in  taxes  but  their 
weight  as  pecuniary  impositions,  there  might  be  some  pretense 
for  this  denial.  But  men  may  be  sorely  touched  and  deeply 
grieved  in  their  privileges  as  well  as  in  their  purses.  Men 
may  lose  little  in  property  by  the  act  which  takes  away  all 
their  freedom.    When  a  man  is  robbed  of  a  trifle  on  the  high- 


70  EDMUND  BURKE 

way,  it  is  not  the  twopence  lost  that  constitutes  the  capital 
outrage.  This  is  not  confined  to  privileges.  Even  ancient  in- 
dulgences, withdrawn  without  offense  on  the  part  of  those 
who  enjoyed  such  favors,  operate  as  grievances.  But  were 
the  Americans  then  not  touched  and  grieved  by  the  taxes,  in 
some  measure,  merely  as  taxes?  If  so,  why  were  they  almost 
all  either  wholly  repealed  or  exceedingly  reduced?  Were  they 
not  touched  and  grieved  even  by  the  regulating  duties  of 
the  sixth  of  George  the  Second  ?  Else  why  were  the  duties 
first  reduced  to  one  third  in  1764,  and  afterward  to  a  third 
of  that  third  in  the  year  1766?  Were  they  not  touched  and 
grieved  by  the  Stamp  Act?  I  shall  say  they  were,  until  that 
tax  is  revived.  Were  they  not  touched  and  grieved  by  the 
duties  of  1767,  which  were  likewise  repealed,  and  which  Lord 
Hillsborough 3S  tells  you,  for  the  ministry,  were  laid  con- 
trary to  the  true  principle  of  commerce?  Is  not  the  assurance 
given  by  that  noble  person  to  the  colonies  of  a  resolution  to 
lay  no  more  taxes  on  them,  an  admission  that  taxes  would 
touch  and  grieve  them?  Is  not  the  resolution  of  the  noble 
lord  in  the  blue  ribbon,  now  standing  on  your  journals,  the 
strongest  of  all  proofs  that  parliamentary  ^subsidies  really 
touched  and  grieved  them?  Else  why  all  these  changes,  modi- 
fications, repeals,  assurances,  and  resolutions? 
The   next   proposition   is — 

99.  III.  "  That  from  the  distance  of  the  said  colonies  and 
from  other  circumstances,  no  method  hath  hitherto  been  devised 
for  procuring  a  representation  in  Parliament  for  the  said  colo- 


This  is  an  assertion  of  a  fact.     I  go  no  further  on  the  paper, 
though    in    my    private    judgment    a    useful    representation    is 
impossible.     I  am  sure  it  is  not  desired  by  them;   rtor  ought  it, 
perhaps,   by  us;    but   I    abstain   from  opinions. 
The    fourth    resolution    is — 

100.  IV.  "  That  each  of  the  said  colonies  hath  within  itself 
a  body,  chosen  in  part  or  in  the  whole,  by  the  freemen,  free- 
holders, or  other  free  inhabitants  thereof,  commonly  called  the 
General  Assembly  or  General  Court,  with  powers  legally  to 
raise,  levy,  and  assess,  according  to  the  several  usage  of  such 
colonies,  duties  and  taxes  toward  defraying  all  sorts  of  public 
services." 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         71 

101.  This  competence  in  the  colony  assemblies  is  certain.  It 
is  proved  by  the  whole  tenor  of  their  acts  of  supply  in  all  the 
assemblies,  in  which  the  constant  style  of  granting  is,  "  an 
aid  to  his  Majesty";  and  acts  granting  to  the  crown  have 
regularly  for  near  a  century  passed  the  public  offices  without 
dispute.  Those  who  have  been  pleased  paradoxically  to  deny 
this  right,  holding  that  none  but  the  British  Parliament  can 
grant  to  the  crown,  are  wished  to  look  to  what  is  done,  not 
only  in  the  colonies,  but  in  Ireland,  in  one  uniform  unbroken 
tenor  every  session.  Sir,  I  am  surprised  that  this  doctrine 
should  come  from  some  of  the  law  servants  of  the  crown.  I 
say  that  if  the  crown  could  be  responsible,  his  Majesty — but 
certainly  the  ministers,  and  even  these  law  officers  themselves 
through  whose  hands  the  acts  pass,  biennially  in  Ireland  or 
annually  in  the  colonies,  are  in  an  habitual  course  of  com- 
mitting impeachable  offenses.  What  habitual  offenders  have 
been  all  presidents  of  the  council,  all  secretaries  of  state,  all 
first  lords  of  trade,  all  attorneys  and  all  solicitors-general ! 
However,  they  are  safe,  as  no  one  impeaches  them;  and  there 
is  no  ground  of  charge  against  them,  except  in  their  own 
unfounded  theories. 

The  fifth  resolution  is  also  a  resolution  of  fact — 

102.  V.  "That  the  said  General  Assemblies,  General  Courts, 
or  other  bodies  legally  qualified  as  aforesaid,  have  at  sundry 
times  freely  granted  several  large  subsidies  and  public  aids  for 
his  Majesty's  service,  according  to  their  abilities,  when  required 
thereto  by  letter  from  one  of  his  Majesty's  principal  secretaries 
of  state;  and  that  their  right  to  grant  the  same,  and  their 
cheerfulness  and  sufficiency  in  the  said  grants,  have  been  at 
sundry   times    acknowledged    by   Parliament." 

To  say  nothing  of  their  great  expenses  in  the  Indian  wars, 
and  not  to  take  their  exertion  in  foreign  ones  so  high  as  the 
supplies  in  the  year  1695,  not  to  go  back  to  their  public  con- 
tributions in  the  year  1710,  I  shall  begin  to  travel  only  where 
the  journals  give  me  light,  resolving  to  deal  in  nothing  but 
fact  authenticated  by  parliamentary  record,  and  to  build  myself 
wholly  on  that  solid  basis. 

103.  On  the  4th  of  April,  1748,  a  committee  of  this  House 
came  to  the  following  resolution: 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee  that  it 
is  just  and  reasonable  that  the  several  provinces  and  colonies 


72  EDMUND  BURKE 

of  Massachusetts  Bay,  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode 
Island  be  reimbursed  the  expenses  they  have  been  at  in  taking 
and  securing  to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain  the  island  of  Cape 
Breton  and  its  dependencies." 

These  expenses  were  immense  for  such  colonies.  They  were 
above  .£200,000  sterling;  money  first  raised  and  advanced  on 
their  public  credit. 

104.  On  the  28th  of  January,  1756,  a  message  from  the  king 
came  to  us  to  this  effect: 

u  His  Majesty,  being  sensible  of  the  zeal  and  vigor  with 
which  his  faithful  subjects  of  certain  colonies  in  North 
America  have  exerted  themselves  in  defense  of  his  Majesty's 
just  rights  and  possessions,  recommends  it  to  this  House  to 
take  the  same  into  their  consideration,  and  to  enable  his 
Majesty  to  give  them  such  assistance  as  may  be  a  proper  re- 
ward and  encouragement" 

105.  On  the  3d  of  February,  1756,  the  House  came  to  a  suit- 
able resolution,  expressed  in  words  nearly  the  same  as  those  of 
the  message,  but  with  the  further  addition,  that  the  money  then 
voted  was  an  encouragement  to  the  colonies  to  exert  them- 
selves with  vigor.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  go  through  all 
the  testimonies  which  your  own  records  have  given  to  the 
truth  of  my  resolutions:  I  will  only  refer  you  to  the  places 
in  the  journals: 

Vol.  xxvii. — May  16  and  19,  1757. 

Vol.  xxviii.— June  1,  1758;  April  26  and  30,  1759;  March  26 

and  31   and  April  28,  1760;  January  9  and  20, 

1761. 
Vol.  xxix. — January  22  and  26,  1762;  March  14  and  17,  1763. 

106.  Sir,  here  is  the  repeated  acknowledgment  of  Parliament 
that  the  colonies  not  only  gave,  but  gave  to  satiety.  This  nation 
has  formally  acknowledged  two  things:  first,  that  the  colonies 
had  gone  beyond  their  abilities,  Parliament  having  thought  it 
necessary  to  reimburse  them;  secondly,  that  they  had  acted 
legally  and  laudably  in  their  grants  of  money  and  their  main- 
tenance of  troops,  since  the  compensation  is  expressly  given  as 
reward  and  encouragement.  Reward  is  not  bestowed  for  acts 
that  are  unlawful,  and  encouragement  is  not  held  out  to  things 
that  deserve  reprehension.     My  resolution  therefore  does  noth- 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         73 

ing  more  than  collect  into  one  proposition  what  is  scattered 
through  your  journals.  I  give  you  nothing  but  your  own, 
and  you  can  not  refuse  in  the  gross  what  you  have  so  often 
acknowledged  in  detail.  The  admission  of  this,  which  will  be 
so  honorable  to  them  and  to  you,  will  indeed  be  mortal  to  all 
the  miserable  stories  by  which  the  passions  of  the  misguided 
people  have  been  engaged  in  an  unhappy  system.  The  people 
heard,  indeed,  from  the  beginning  of  these  disputes,  one  thing 
continually  dinned  in  their  ears — that  reason  and  justice  de- 
manded that  the  Americans,  who  paid  no  taxes,  should  be 
compelled  to  contribute.  How  did  that  fact  of  their  paying 
nothing  stand  when  the  taxing  system  began?  When  Mr. 
Grenville  began  to  form  his  system  of  American  revenue,  he 
stated  in  this  House  that  the  colonies  were  then  in  debt  two 
million  six  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling  money,  and  was 
of  opinion  they  would  discharge  that  debt  in  four  years.  On 
this  state,  those  untaxed  people  were  actually  subject  to  the 
payment  of  taxes  to  the  amount  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand a  year.  In  fact,  however,  Mr.  Grenville  was  mistaken. 
The  funds  given  for  sinking  the  debt  did  not  prove  quite  so 
ample  as  both  the  colonies  and  he  expected.  The  calculation 
was  too  sanguine:  the  reduction  was  not  completed  till  some 
years  after,  and  at  different  times  in  different  colonies.  How- 
ever, the  taxes  after  the  war  continued  too  great  to  bear  any 
addition  with  prudence  or  propriety;  and  when  the  burdens  im- 
posed in  consequence  of  former  requisitions  were  discharged, 
our  tone  became  too  high  to  resort  again  to  requisition.  No 
colony  since  that  time  ever  has  had  any  requisition  whatsoever 
made  to  it. 

107.  We  see  the  sense  of  the  crown  and  the  sense  of  Parlia- 
ment on  the  productive  nature  of  a  revenue  by  grant.  Now 
search  the  same  journals  for  the  produce  of  the  revenue  by  im- 
position. Where  is  it?  Let  us  know  the  volume  and  the  page? 
What  is  the  gross,  what  is  the  net  produce?  To  what  service 
is  it  applied?  How  have  you  appropriated  its  surplus?  What! 
can  none  of  the  many  skillful  index  makers  that  we  are  now 
employing  find  any  trace  of  it?  Well,  let  them  and  that  rest 
together.  But  are  the  journals,  which  say  nothing  of  the 
revenue,  as  silent  on  the  discontent?  Oh,  no!  a  child  may  find 
it.     It  is  the  melancholy  burden  and  blot  of  every  page. 

108.  I  think,  then,  I  am,  from  those  journals,  justified  in  the 
sixth   and   last  resolution,   which   is — 


74  EDMUND  BURKE 

VI.  "  That  it  hath  been  found  by  experience  that  the  manner 
of  granting  the  said  supplies  and  aids  by  the  said  General  As- 
semblies hath  been  more  agreeable  to  the  said  colonies,  and 
more  beneficial  and  conducive  to  the  public  service,  than  the 
mode  of  giving  and  granting  aids  in  Parliament,  to  be  raised 
and  paid  in  the  said  colonies." 

109.  This  makes  the  whole  of  the  fundamental  part  of  the 
plan.  The  conclusion  is  irresistible.  You  can  not  say  that  you 
were  driven  by  any  necessity  to  an  exercise  of  the  utmost  rights 
of  legislature.  You  can  not  assert  that  you  took  on  yourselves 
the  task  of  imposing  colony  taxes,  from  the  want  of  another 
legal  body  that  is  competent  to  the  purpose  of  supplying  the 
exigencies  of  the  state  without  wounding  the  prejudices  of  the 
people.  Neither  is  it  true  that  the  body  so  qualified  and  having 
that  competence  had  neglected  the  duty. 

no.  The  question  now  on  all  this  accumulated  matter  is — 
whether  you  will  choose  to  abide  by  a  profitable  experience,  or 
a  mischievous  theory;  whether  you  choose  to  build  on  imagina- 
tion or  fact;  whether  you  prefer  enjoyment  or  hope;  satis- 
faction in  your  subjects,   or  discontent? 

in.  If  these  propositions  are  accepted,  everything  which  has 
been  made  to  enforce  a  contrary  system  must,  I  take  it  for 
granted,  fall  along  with  it.  On  that  ground  I  have  drawn  the 
following  resolution,  which,  when  it  comes  to  be  moved,  will 
naturally  be  divided  in   a  proper  manner: 

112.  I.  "That  it  may  be  proper  to  repeal  an  act  made  in  the 
seventh  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present  Majesty,  entitled,  '  An 
act  for  granting  certain  duties  in  the  British  colonies  and  planta- 
tions in  America;  for  allowing  a  drawback  of  the  duties  of  cus- 
toms upon  the  exportation  from  this  kingdom,  of  coffee  and 
cocoanuts  of  the  produce  of  the  said  colonies  or  plantations;  for 
discontinuing  the  drawbacks  payable  on  China  earthenware  ex- 
ported to  America;  and  for  more  effectually  preventing  the 
clandestine  running  of  goods  in  the  said  colonies  and  planta- 
tions.' And  that  it  may  be  proper  to  repeal  an  act  made  in 
the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present  Majesty,  entitled, 
1  An  act  to  discontinue,  in  such  manner  and  for  such  time  as 
are  therein  mentioned,  the  landing  and  discharging,  lading  or 
shipping,  of  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise,  at  the  town  and 
within  the  harbor  of  Boston,  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  in  North  America.' — And  that  it  may  be  proper  to  repeal 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         75 

an  act  made  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present 
Majesty,  entitled,  *  An  act  for  the  impartial  administration  of 
justice  in  the  cases  of  persons  questioned  for  any  acts  done  by 
them  in  the  execution  of  the  law,  or  for  the  suppression  of  riots 
and  tumults,  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New 
England.' — And  that  it  may  be  proper  to  repeal  an  act  made  in 
the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present  Majesty,  entitled, 
'  An  act  for  the  better  regulating  the  government  of  the 
province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New  England.' — And  also, 
that  it  may  be  proper  to  explain  and  amend  an  act  made  in 
the  thirty-fifth  year  of  the  reign  of  King  Henry  the  Eighth, 
entitled,  '  An  act  for  the  trial  of  treasons  committed  out  of  the 
king's  dominions.'  " 


113.  I  wish,  Sir,  to  repeal  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  because,  inde- 
pendently of  the  dangerous  precedent  of  suspending  the  rights 
of  the  subject  during  the  king's  pleasure,  it  was  passed,  as  I 
apprehend,  with  less  regularity,  and  on  more  partial  principles, 
than  it  ought.  The  corporation  of  Boston  was  not  heard  before 
it  was  condemned.  Other  towns,  full  as  guilty  as  she  was, 
have  not  had  their  ports  blocked  up.  Even  the  restraining 
bill  39  of  the  present  session  does  not  go  to  the  length  of  the 
Boston  Port  Act.  The  same  ideas  of  prudence  which  induced 
you  not  to  extend  equal  punishment  to  equal  guilt,  even  when 
you  were  punishing,  induced  me,  who  mean  not  to  chastise, 
but  to  reconcile,  to  be  satisfied  with  the  punishment  already 
partially  inflicted. 

114.  Ideas  of  prudence  and  accommodation  to  circumstances 
prevent  you  from  taking  away  the  charters  of  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island,  as  you  have  taken  away  that  of  Massachusetts 
colony,  though  the  crown  has  far  less  power 40  in  the  two 
former  provinces  than  it  enjoyed  in  the  latter;  and  though  the 
abuses  have  been  full  as  great,  and  as  flagrant,  in  the  ex- 
empted as  in  the  punished.  The  same  reasons  of  prudence 
and  accommodation  have  weight  with  me  in  restoring  the 
charter  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Besides,  Sir,  the  act  which 
changes  the  charter  of  Massachusetts  is  in  many  particulars  so 
exceptionable  that,  if  I  did  not  wish  absolutely  to  repeal,  I 
would  by  all  means  desire  to  alter  it,  as  several  of  its  pro- 
visions tend  to  the  subversion  of  all  public  and  private  justice. 
Such,  among  others,  is  the  power  in  the  governor  to  change 
the  sheriff  at  his  pleasure,  and  to  make  a  new  returning  officer 


76  EDMUND  BURKE 

for  every  special  cause.     It  is  shameful  to  behold  such  a  regu- 
lation standing  among  English   laws. 

115.  The  act  for  bringing  persons  accused  of  committing  mur- 
der under  the  orders  of  government  to  England  for  trial  is  but 
temporary.  That  act  has  calculated  the  probable  duration  of 
our  quarrel  with  the  colonies,  and  is  accommodated  to  that 
supposed  duration.  I  would  hasten  the  happy  moment  of 
reconciliation,  and  therefore  must,  on  my  principle,  get  rid  of 
that   most  justly   obnoxious   act. 

116.  The  act  of  Henry  the  Eighth  for  the  trial  of  treasons,  I 
do  not  mean  to  take  away,  but  to  confine  it  to  its  proper  bounds 
and  original  intention;  to  make  it  expressly  for  trial  of 
treasons  (and  the  greatest  treasons  may  be  committed)  in 
places  where  the  jurisdiction  of  the  crown  does  not  extend. 

117.  Having  guarded  the  privileges  of  local  legislature,  I 
would  next  secure  to  the  colonies  a  fair  and  unbiased  judica- 
ture; for  which"  purpose,  Sir,  I  propose  the  following  resolu- 
tion: 

II.  "That,  from  the  time  when  the  General  Assembly  or 
General  Court  of  any  colony  or  plantation  in  North  America 
shall  have  appointed,  by  act  of  Assembly  duly  confirmed,  a  set- 
tled salary  to  the  offices  of  the  chief  justice  and  other  judges  of 
the  superior  courts,  it  may  be  proper  that  the  said  chief  justice 
and  other  judges  of  the  superior  courts  of  such  colony  shall  hold 
his  and  their  office  and  offices  during  their  good  behavior;  and 
shall  not  be  removed  therefrom,  but  when  the  said  removal  shall 
be  adjudged  by  his  Majesty  in  council,  upon  a  hearing  on  com- 
plaint from  the  General  Assembly,  or  on  a  complaint  from  the 
governor  or  council  or  the  House  of  Representatives,  severally, 
of  the  colony  in  which  the  said  chief  justice  and  other  judges 
have  exercised  the  said  offices." 

118.  The  next  resolution  relates  to  the  courts  of  admiralty. 
It  is  this: 

III.  "  That  it  may  be  proper  to  regulate  the  courts  of  ad- 
miralty or  vice-admiralty  authorized  by  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
the  fourth  of  George  the  Third,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make 
the  same  more  commodious  to  those  who  sue  or  are  sued  in  the 
said  courts,  and  to  provide  for  the  more  decent  maintenance  of 
the  judges  in  the  same." 


CONCILIATION  WITPI  AMERICA         77 

119.  These  courts  I  do  not  wish  to  take  away:  they  are  in 
themselves  proper  establishments.  This  court  is  one  of  the  capi- 
tal securities  of  the  Act  of  Navigation.  The  extent  of  its  juris- 
diction, indeed,  has  been  increased;  but  this  is  altogether  as 
proper,  and  is  indeed  on  many  accounts  more  eligible,  where 
new  powers  were  wanted,  than  a  court  absolutely  new.  But 
courts  incommodiously  situated,  in  effect,  deny  justice;  and  a 
court  partaking  in  the  fruits  of  its  own  condemnation  is  a 
robber.  The  Congress  complain,  and  complain  justly,  of  this 
grievance. 

120.  These  are  the  three  consequential  propositions.  I  have 
thought  of  two  or  three  more;  but  they  come  rather  too  near 
detail,  and  to  the  province  of  executive  government,  which  I 
wish  Parliament  always  to  superintend,  never  to  assume.  If 
the  first  six  are  granted,  congruity  will  carry  the  latter  three. 
If  not,  the  things  that  remain  unrepealed  will  be,  I  hope, 
rather  unseemly  encumbrances  on  the  building,  than  very  ma- 
terially detrimental   to  its  strength  and   stability. 

121.  Here,  Sir,  I  should  close;  but  I  plainly  perceive  some 
objections  remain,  which  I  ought,  if  possible,  to  remove.  The 
first  will  be  that,  in  resorting  to  the  doctrine  of  our  ancestors 
as  contained  in  the  preamble  to  the  Chester  Act,  I  prove  too 
much;  that  the  grievance  from  a  want  of  representation,  stated 
in,  that  preamble,  goes  to  the  whole  of  legislation  as  well  as 
to  taxation.  And  that  the  colonies,  grounding  themselves  upon 
that  doctrine,  will  apply  it  to  all  parts  of  legislative  authority. 

122.  To  this  objection,  with  all  possible  deference  and  humil- 
ity, and  wishing  as  little  as  any  man  living  to  impair  the  small- 
est particle  of  our  supreme  authority,  I  answer  that  the  words 
are  the  words  of  Parliament,  and  not  mine,  and  that  all  false 
and  inconclusive  inferences  drawn  from  them  are  not  mine, 
for  I  heartily  disclaim  any  such  inference.  I  have  chosen  the 
words  of  an  act  of  Parliament  which  Mr.  Grenville,  surely 
a  tolerably  zealous  and  very  judicious  advocate  for  the 
sovereignty  of  Parliament,  formerly  moved  to  have  read  at 
your  table  in  confirmation  of  his  tenets.  It  is  true  that  Lord 
Chatham  considered  these  preambles  as  declaring  strongly  in 
favor  of  his  opinions.  He  was  a  no  less  powerful  advocate 
for  the  privileges  of  the  Americans.  Ought  I  not  from  hence 
to  presume  that  these  preambles  are  as  favorable  as  possible 
to  both,  when  properly  understood — favorable  both  to  the  rights 
of  Parliament,  and  to  the  privilege  of  the  dependencies  of  this 


78  EDMUND  BURKE 

crown?  But,  Sir,  the  object  of  grievance  in  my  resolution  I 
have  not  taken  from  the  Chester,  but  from  the  Durham  Act, 
which  confines  the  hardship  of  want  of  representation  to  the 
case  of  subsidies,  and  which  therefore  falls  in  exactly  with  the 
case  of  the  colonies.  But  whether  the  unrepresented  counties 
were  de  jure  or  de  facto  bound,  the  preambles  do  not  accu- 
rately distinguish;  nor  indeed  was  it  necessary;  for,  whether 
de  jure  or  de  facto,  the  legislature  thought  the  exercise  of  the 
power  of  taxing,  as  of  right  or  as  of  fact  without  right,  equally 
a  grievance,  and  equally  oppressive. 

123.  I  do  not  know  that  the  colonies  have,  in  any  gen- 
eral way  or  in  any  cool  hour,  gone  much  beyond  the  de- 
mand of  immunity  in  relation  to  taxes.  It  is  not  fair  to 
judge  of  the  temper  or  dispositions  of  any  man  or  any  set 
of  men  when  they  are  composed  and  at  rest,  from  their 
conduct  or  their  expressions  in  a  state  of  disturbance  and 
irritation.  It  is,  besides,  a  very  great  mistake  to  imagine 
that  mankind  follow  up  practically  any  speculative  prin- 
ciple, either  of  government  or  of  freedom,  as  far  as  it 
will  go  in  argument  and  logical  illation.  We  English- 
men stop  very  short  of  the  principles  upon  which  we  sup- 
port any  given  part  of  our  Constitution,  or  even  the  whole 
of  it  together.  I  could  easily,  if  I  had  not  already  tired 
3rou,  give  you  very  striking  and  convincing  instances  of 
it.  This  is  nothing  but  what  is  natural  and  proper.  All 
government,  indeed  every  human  benefit  and  enjoyment, 
every  virtue,  and  every  prudent  act,  is  founded  on  com- 
promise and  barter.  We  balance  inconveniences;  we  give 
and  take;  we  remit  some  rights  that  we  may  enjoy  others; 
and  we  choose  rather  to  be  happy  citizens  than  subtle  dis- 
putants. As  we  must  give  away  some  natural  liberty  to 
enjoy  civil  advantages,  so  we  must  sacrifice  some  civil 
liberties  for  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  com- 
munion and  fellowship  of  a  great  empire.  But  in  all  fair 
dealings,  the  thing  bought  must  bear  some  proportion  to 
the  purchase  paid.    None  will  barter  away  the  immediate 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         79 

jewel  of  his  soul.  Though  a  great  house  is  apt  to  make 
slaves  haughty,  yet  it  is  purchasing  a  part  of  the  artificial 
importance  of  a  great  empire  too  dear  to  pay  for  it  all 
essential  rights  and  all  the  intrinsic  dignity  of  human 
nature.  None  of  us  who  would  not  risk  his  life  rather 
than  fall  under  a  government  purely  arbitrary.  But  al- 
though there  are  some  among  us  who  think  our  Consti- 
tution wants  many  improvements  to  make  it  a  complete 
system  of  liberty,  perhaps  none  who  are  of  that  opinion 
would  think  it  right  to  aim  at  such  improvement  by  dis- 
turbing his  country  and  risking  everything  that  is  dear 
to  him.  In  every  arduous  enterprise,  we  consider  what 
we  are  to  lose  as  well  as  what  we  are  to  gain;  and  the 
more  and  better  stake  of  liberty  every  people  possess,  the 
less  they  will  hazard  in  a  vain  attempt  to  make  it  more. 
These  are  the  cords  of  man.  Man  acts  from  adequate 
motives  relative  to  his  interest,  and  not  on  metaphysical 
speculations.  Aristotle,  the  great  master  of  reasoning, 
cautions  us,  and  with  great  weight  and  propriety,  against 
this  species  of  delusive  geometrical  accuracy  in  moral  argu- 
ments, as  the  most  fallacious  of  all  sophistry. 

124.  The  Americans  will  have  no  interest  contrary  to 
the  grandeur  and  glory  of  England,  when  they  are  not 
oppressed  by  the  weight  of  it;  and  they  will  rather  be 
inclined  to  respect  the  acts  of  a  superintending  legislature 
when  they  see  them  the  acts  of  that  power  which  is  itself 
the  security,  not  the  rival,  of  their  secondary  importance. 
In  this  assurance,  my  mind  most  perfectly  acquiesces ;  and 
I  confess  I  feel  not  the  least  alarm  from  the  discontents 
which  are  to  arise  from  putting  people  at  their  ease;  nor 
do  I  apprehend  the  destruction  of  this  empire  from  giving, 
by  an  act  of  free  grace  and  indulgence,  to  two  millions 
of  my  fellow-citizens,  some  share  of  those  rights  upon 
which  I  have  always  been  taught  to  value  myself. 


80  EDMUND  BURKE 

125.  It  is  said,  indeed,  that  this  power  of  granting,  vested  in 
American  assemblies,  would  dissolve  the  unity  of  the  empire, 
which  was  preserved  entire,  although  Wales,  and  Chester,  and 
Durham  were  added  to  it.  Truly,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  do  not  know 
what  this  unity  means;  nor  has  it  ever  been  heard  of,  that  I 
know,  in  the  constitutional  policy  of  this  country.  The  very 
idea  of  subordination  of  parts  excludes  this  notion  of  simple 
and  undivided  unity.  England  is  the  head;  but  she  is  not  the 
head  and  the  members  too.  Ireland  has  41  ever  had  from  the 
beginning  a  separate,  but  not  an  independent  legislature; 
which,  far  from  distracting,  promoted  the  union  of  the  whole. 
Everything  was  sweetly  and  harmoniously  disposed  through 
both  islands  for  the  conservation  of  English  dominion  and  the 
communication  of  English  liberties.  I  do  not  see  that  the  same 
principles  might  not  be  carried  into  twenty  islands,  and  with 
the  same  good  effect.  This  is  my  model  with  regard  to 
America,  as  far  as  the  internal  circumstances  of  the  two  coun- 
tries are  the  same.  I  know  no  other  unity  of  this  empire  than 
I  can  draw  from  its  example  during  these  periods,  when  it 
seemed  to  my  poor  understanding  more  united  than  it  is  now, 
or  than  it  is  likely  to  be  by  the  present  methods. 

126.  But  since  I  speak  of  these  methods,  I  recollect,  Mr. 
Speaker,  almost  too  late,  that  I  promised,  before  I  finished,  to 
say  something  of  the  proposition  of  the  noble  lord  on  the  floor, 
which  has  been  so  lately  received,  and  stands  on  your  journals. 
I  must  be  deeply  concerned  whenever  it  is  my  misfortune  to 
continue  a  difference  with  the  majority  of  this  House.  But  as 
the  reasons  for  that  difference  are  my  apology  for  thus  troub- 
ling you,  suffer  me  to  state  them  in  a  very  few  words.  I  shall 
compress  them  into  as  small  a  body  as  I  possibly  can,  having 
already  debated  that  matter  at  large  when  the  question  was 
before  the  committee. 

127.  First,  then,  I  can  not  admit  that  proposition  of 
a  ransom  by  auction,  because  it  is  a  mere  project.  It  is 
a  thing  new,  unheard  of,  supported  by  no  experience,  justi- 
fied by  no  analogy,  without  example  of  our  ancestors,  or 
root  in  the  Constitution.  It  is  neither  regular  parlia- 
mentary taxation  nor  colony  grant.  Experimentum  in 
corpore  vili  42  is  a  good  rule,  which  will  ever  make  me 
adverse  to  any  trial  of  experiments  on  what  is  certainly 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         81 

the  most  valuable  of  all  subjects — the  peace  of  this  empire. 
128.  Secondly,  it  is  an  experiment  which  must  be  fatal 
in  the  end  to  our  Constitution.  For  what  is  it  but  a 
scheme  for  taxing  the  colonies  in  the  antechamber  of  the 
noble  lord  and  his  successors?  To  settle  the  quotas  and 
proportions  in  this  House,  is  clearly  impossible.  You,  Sir, 
may  flatter  yourself  you  shall  sit  a  state  auctioneer  with 
your  hammer  in  your  hand,  and-  knock  down  to  each 
colony  as  it  bids.  But  to  settle,  on  the  plan  laid  down  by 
the  noble  lord,  the  true  proportional  payment  for  four  or 
five  and  twenty  governments^  according  to  the  absolute 
and  the  relative  wealth  of  each,  and  according  to  the  Brit- 
ish proportion  of  wealth  and  burden,  is  a  wild  and  chi- 
merical notion.  This  new  taxation  must  therefore  come 
in  by  the  back  door  of  the  Constitution.  Each  quota 
must  be  brought  to  this  House  ready  formed.  You  can 
neither  add  nor  alter.  You  must  register  it.  You  can  do 
nothing  further.  For  on  what  grounds  can  you  deliberate 
either  before  or  after  the  proposition  ?  You  can  not  hear 
the  counsel  for  all  these  provinces  quarreling  each  on  its 
own  quantity  of  payment,  and  its  proportion  to  others. 
If  you  should  attempt  it,  the  committee  of  provincial  ways 
and  means,  or  by  whatever  other  name  it  will  delight  to 
be  called,  must  swallow  up  all  the  time  of  Parliament. 

129.  Thirdly,  it  does  not  give  satisfaction  to  the  complaint  of 
the  colonies.  They  complain  that  they  are  taxed  without  their 
consent;  you  answer  that  you  will  fix  the  sum  at  which  they 
shall  be  taxed ;  that  is,  you  give  them  the  very  grievance  for 
the  remedy.  You  tell  them,  indeed,  that  you  will  leave  the 
mode  to  themselves.  I  really  beg  pardon;  it  gives  me  pain  to 
mention  it;  but  you  must  be  sensible  that  you  will  not  perform 
this  part  of  the  compact.  For,  suppose  the  colonies  were  to 
lay  the  duties  which  furnished  their  contingent  upon  the  im- 
portation of  your  manufactures;  you  know  you  would  never 
suffer  such  a  tax  to  be  laid.  You  know,  too,  that  you  would 
not  suffer  many  other  modes  of  taxation.  So  that,  when  you 
come  to  explain  yourself,  it  will  be  found  that  you  will  neither 


82  EDMUND  BURKE 

leave    to   themselves   the    quantum   nor    the    mode,    nor    indeed 
anything.     The  whole  is  delusion  from  one  end  to  the  other. 

130.  Fourthly,  this  method  of  ransom  by  auction,  unless  it  be 
universally  accepted,  will  plunge  you  into  great  and  inextrica- 
ble difficulties.  In  what  year  of  our  Lord  are  the  proportions 
of  payments  to  be  settled  ?  To  say  nothing  of  the  impossibility 
that  colony  agents  should  have  general  powers  of  taxing  the 
colonies  at  their  discretion,  consider,  I  implore  you,  that  the 
communication  by  special  messages  and  orders  between  these 
agents  and  their  constituents  on  each  variation  of  the  case,  when 
the  parties  come  to  contend  together  and  to  dispute  on  their 
relative  proportions,  will  be  a  matter  of  delay,  perplexity,  and 
confusion  that  never  can  have  an  end. 

131.  If  all  the  colonies  do  not  appear  at  the  outcry,  what  is 
the  condition  of  those  assemblies  who  offer,  by  themselves  or 
their  agents,  to  tax  themselves  up  to  your  ideas  of  their  propor- 
tion? The  refractory  colonies  who  refuse  all  composition  will 
remain  taxed  only  to  your  old  impositions,  which,  however 
grievous  in  principle,  are  trifling  as  to  production.  The 
obedient  colonies  in  this  scheme  are  heavily  taxed ;  the  refrac- 
tory remain  unburdened.  What  will  you  do?  Will  you  lay 
new  and  heavier  taxes  by  Parliament  on  the  disobedient?  Pray 
consider  in  what  way  you  can  do  it.  You  are  perfectly  con- 
vinced that,  in  the  way  of  taxing,  you  can  do  nothing  but  at 
the  ports.  Now  suppose  it  is  Virginia  that  refuses  to  appear 
at  your  auction,  while  Maryland  and  North  Carolina  bid 
handsomely  for  their  ransom  and  are  taxed  to  your  quota:  how 
will  you  put  these  colonies  on  a  par?  Will  you  tax  the  tobacco 
of  Virginia?  If  you  do,  you  give  its  death-wound  to  your 
English  revenue  at  home,  and  to  one  of  the  very  greatest  arti- 
cles of  your  own  foreign  trade.  If  you  tax  the  import  of  that 
rebellious  colony,  what  do  you  tax  but  your  own  manufactures, 
or  the  goods  of  some  other  obedient  and  already  well-taxed 
colony?  Who  has  said  one  word  on  this  labyrinth  of  detail 
which  bewilders  you  more  and  more  as  you  enter  into  it? 
Who  has  presented,  who  can  present  you  with  a  clew  to  lead 
you  out  of  it?  I  think,  Sir,  it  is  impossible  that  you  should 
not  recollect  that  the  colony  bounds  are  so  implicated  in  one 
another  (you  know  it  by  your  other  experiments  in  the  bill 
for  prohibiting  the  New  England  fishery)  that  you  can  lay  no 
possible  restraints  on  almost  any  of  them  which  may  not  be 
presently  eluded,  if  you  do  not  confound  the  innocent  with  th- 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         83 

guilty,  and  burden  those  whom,  upon  every  principle,  you 
/ught  to  exonerate.  He  must  be  grossly  ignorant  of  America 
who  thinks  that,  without  falling  into  this  confusion  of  all  rules 
of  equity  and  policy,  you  can  restrain  any  single  colony,  espe- 
cially Virginia  and  Maryland,  the  central  and  most  important 
of  them  all. 

132.  Let  it  also  be  considered  that,  either  in  the  pres- 
ent confusion  you  settle  a  permanent  contingent,  which 
will  and  must  be  trifling,  and  then  you  have  no  effectual 
revenue;  or  you  change  the  quota  at  every  exigency,  and 
then  on  every  new  repartition  you  will  have  a  new 
quarrel. 

133.  Reflect,  besides,  that  when  you  have  fixed  a  quota 
for  every  colony,  you  have  not  provided  for  prompt  and 
punctual  payment.  Suppose  one,  two,  five,  ten  years' 
arrears:  you  can  not  issue  a  treasury  extent  against  the 
failing  colony.  You  must  make  new  Boston  Port  Bills, 
new  restraining  laws,  new  acts  for  dragging  men  to  Eng- 
land for  trial.  You  must  send  out  new  fleets,  new 
armies.  All  is  to  begin  again.  From  this  day  forward 
the  empire  is  never  to  know  an  hour's  tranquillity.  An 
intestine  fire  will  be  kept  alive  in  the  bowels  of  the 
colonies,  which  one  time  or  other  must  consume  this 
whole  empire.  I  allow  indeed  that  the  Empire  of  Ger- 
many raises  her  revenue  and  her  troops  by  quotas  and 
contingents;  but  the  revenue  of  the  empire,  and  the  army 
of  the  empire,  is  the  worst  revenue  and  the  worst  army 
in  the  world. 

134.  Instead  of  a  standing  revenue,  you  will  therefore 
have  a  perpetual  quarrel.  Indeed,  the  noble  lord  who  pro* 
posed  this  project  of  a  ransom  by  auction  seems  himself 
to  be  of  that  opinion.  His  project  was  rather  designed 
for  breaking  the  union  of  the  colonies  than  for  establish- 
ing a  revenue.  He  confessed  he  apprehended  that  his 
proposal  would  not  be  to  their  taste.  I  say  this  scheme 
of  disunion  seems  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  project;  for 


84  EDMUND  BURKE 

I  will  not  suspect  that  the  noble  lord  meant  nothing  but 
merely  to  delude  the  nation  by  an  airy  phantom  which 
he  never  intended  to  realize.  But  whatever  his  views 
may  be,  as  I  propose  the  peace  and  union  of  the  colonies 
as  the  very  foundation  of  my  plan,  it  can  not  accord  with 
one  whose  foundation  is  perpetual  discord. 

135.  Compare  the  two.  This  I  offer  to  give  you  is 
plain  and  simple.  The  other  full  of  perplexed  and  intri- 
cate mazes.  This  mild;  that  harsh.  This  is  found  by 
experience  effectual  for  its  purposes;  the  other  is  a  new 
project.  This  is  universal;  the  other  calculated  for  cer- 
tain colonies  only.  This  is  immediate  in  its  conciliatory 
operations;  the  other  remote,  contingent,  full  of  hazard. 
Mine  is  what  becomes  the  dignity  of  a  ruling  people — 
gratuitous,  unconditional,  and  not  held  out  as  a  matter  of 
bargain  and  sale.  I  have  done  my  duty  in  proposing  it 
to  you.  I  have  indeed  tired  you  by  a  long  discourse; 
but  this  is  the  misfortune  of  those  to  whose  influence 
nothing  will  be  conceded,  and  who  must  win  every  inch 
of  their  ground  by  argument.  You  have  heard  me  with 
goodness.  May  you  decide  with  wisdom!  For  my  part, 
I  feel  my  mind  greatly  disburthened  by  what  I  have 
done  to-day.  I  have  been  the  less  fearful  of  trying  your 
patience,  because  on  this  subject  I  mean  to  spare  it  alto- 
gether in  future.  I  have  this  comfort,  that  in  every  stage 
of  the  American  affairs  I  have  steadily  opposed  the  meas- 
ures that  have  produced  the  confusion,  and  may  bring  on 
the  destruction,  of  this  Empire.  I  now  go  so  far  as  to 
risk  a  proposal  of  my  own.  If  I  can  not  give  peace  to 
my  country,  I  give  it  to  my  conscience. 

136.  But  what,  says  the  financier,  is  peace  to  us  with- 
out money?  Your  plan  gives  us  no  revenue.  No!  But 
it  does;  for  it  secures  to  the  subject  the  power  of  refusal, 
the  first  of  all  revenues.  Experience  is  a  cheat,  and  fact 
a  liar,  if  this  power  in  the  subject  of  proportioning  his 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         85 

grant,  or  of  not  granting  at  all,  has  not  been  found  the 
richest  mine  of  revenue  ever  discovered  by  the  skill  or 
by  the  fortune  of  man.  It  does  not  indeed  vote  you 
152,750/.  iu.  iY\d.,  nor  any  other  paltry  limited  sum; 
but  it  gives  the  strong  box  itself,  the  fund,  the  bank — 
from  whence  only  revenues  can  arise  amongst  a  people 
sensible  to  freedom.  Posita  luditur  area.*3  Cannot  you, 
in  England — cannot  you,  at  this  time  of  day — cannot  you, 
a  House  of  Commons,  trust  to  the  principle  which  has 
raised  so  mighty  a  revenue,  and  accumulated  a  debt  of 
near  £140,000,000  in  this  country?  Is  this  principle  to 
be  true  in  England,  and  false  everywhere  else?  Is  it  not 
true  in  Ireland?  Has  it  not  hitherto  been  true  in  the 
colonies?  Why  should  you  presume  that  in  any  country 
a  body  duly  constituted  for  any  function  will  neglect  to 
perform  its  duty,  and  abdicate  its  trust?  Such  a  pre- 
sumption would  go  against  all  governments  in  all  modes. 
But,  in  truth,  this  dread  of  penury  of  supply  from  a  free 
assembly,  has  no  foundation  in  Nature.  For  first  ob- 
serve that,  besides  the  desire  which  all  men  have  natu- 
rally of  supporting  the  honor  of  their  own  government, 
that  sense  of  dignity  and  that  security  to  property  which 
ever  attends  freedom,  has  a  tendency  to  increase  the  stock 
of  the  free  community.  Most  may  be  taken  where  most 
is  accumulated.  And  what  is  the  soil  or  climate  where 
experience  has  not  uniformly  proved  that  the  voluntary 
flow  of  heaped-up  plenty,  bursting  from  the  weight  of  its 
own  rich  luxuriance,  has  ever  run  with  a  more  copious 
stream  of  revenue  than  could  be  squeezed  from  the  dry 
husks  of  oppressed  indigence  by  the  straining  of  all  the 
politic  machinery  in  the  world? 

137.  Next,  we  know  that  parties  must  ever  exist  in  a 
free  country.  We  know,  too,  that  the  emulations  of  such 
parties,  their  contradictions,  their  reciprocal  necessities, 
their  hopes,  and  their  fears,  must  send  them  all  in  their 


26  EDMUND  BURKE 

tuttlS  to  him  that  holds  the  balance  of  the  State.  The 
parties  are  the  gamesters;  but  the  government  keeps  the 
table,  and  is  sure  to  be  the  winner  in  the  end-  When  this 
game  is  played,  I  really  think  it  is  more  to  be  feared  that 
the  people  will  be  exhausted,  than  that  government  will 
not  be  supplied.  Whereas,  whatever  is  got  by  acts  of 
absolute  power,  ill  obeyed,  because  odious,  or  by  con- 
tracts, ill  kept,  because  constrained,  will  be  narrow, 
feeble,  uncertain,  and  precarious. 

"  Ease  would  retract  vows  made  in  pain,  as  violent  and 
void." 

138.  I,  for  one,  protest  against  compounding  our  de- 
mands. I  declare  against  compounding,  for  a  poor  limited 
sum,  the  immense,  ever-growing,  eternal  debt  which  is  due 
to  generous  government  from  protected  freedom.  And  so> 
may  I  speed  in  the  great  object  I  propose  to  you,  as  I 
think  it  would  not  only  be  an  act  of  injustice,  but  would 
be  the  worst  economy  in  the  world,  to  compel  the  colonies: 
to  a  sum  certain,  either  in  the  way  of  ransom  or  in  the 
way  of  compulsory  compact. 

139.  But  to  clear  up  my  ideas  on  this  subject,  a  reve- 
nue from  America  transmitted  hither — do  not  delude 
yourselves — you  never  can  receive  it;  no,  not  a  shilling. 
We  have  experience  that  from  remote  countries  it  is  not 
to  be  expected.  If,  when  you  attempted  to  extract  reve- 
nue from  Bengal  you  were  obliged  to  return  in  loan  what 
you  had  taken  in  imposition,  what  can  you  expect  from 
North  America?  For  certainly,  if  ever  there  was  a 
country  qualified  to  produce  wealth,  it  is  India;  or  an 
institution  fit  for  the  transmission,  it  is  the  East  India 
Company.  America  has  none  of  these  aptitudes.  If 
America  gives  you  taxable  objects  on  which  you  lay  your 
duties  here,  and  gives  you,  at  the  same  time,  a  surplus 
by  a  foreign  sale  of  her  commodities  to  pay  the  duties  on 
these  objects  which  you  tax  at  home,  she  has  performed 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         87 

her  part  to  the  British  revenue.  But  with  regard  to  her 
own  internal  establishments,  she  may,  I  doubt  not  she 
will,  contribute  in  moderation.  I  say  in  moderation,  for 
she  ought  not  to  be  permitted  to  exhaust  herself.  She 
ought  to  be  reserved  to  a  war,  the  weight  of  which,  with 
the  enemies  that  we  are  most  likely  to  have,  must  be 
considerable  in  her  quarter  of  the  globe.  There  she  may 
serve  you,  and  serve  you  essentially. 

140.  For  that  service — for  all  service,  whether  of  reve- 
nue, trade,  or  empire — my  trust  is  in  her  interest  in  the 
British  Constitution.  My  hold  of  the  colonies  is  in  the 
close  affection  which  grows  from  common  names,  from 
kindred  blood,  from  similar  privileges,  and  equal  protec- 
tion. These  are  ties  which,  though  light  as  air,  are  as 
strong  as  links  of  iron.  Let  the  colonies  always  keep  the 
idea  of  their  civil  rights  associated  with  your  government, 
they  will  cling  and  grapple  to  you,  and  no  force  under 
heaven  will  be  of  power  to  tear  them  from  their  allegiance. 
But  let  it  be  once  understood  that  your  government  may 
be  one  thing  and  their  privileges  another,  that  these  two 
things  may  exist  without  any  mutual  relation,  the  cement 
is  gone,  the  cohesion  is  loosened,  and  everything  hastens 
to  decay  and  dissolution.  As  long  as  you  have  the  wisdom 
to  keep  the  sovereign  authority  of  this  country  as  the 
sanctuary  of  liberty,  the  sacred  temple  consecrated  to  our 
common  faith,  wherever  the  chosen  race  and  sons  of  Eng- 
land worship  freedom,  they  will  turn  their  faces  towards 
you.  The  more  they  multiply,  the  more  friends  you  will 
have;  the  more  ardently  they  love  liberty,  the  more  per- 
fect will  be  their  obedience.  Slavery  they  can  have  any- 
where. It  is  a  weed  that  grows  in  every  soil.  They  may 
have  it  from  Spain ;  they  may  have  it  from  Prussia.  But, 
until  you  become  lost  to  all  feeling  of  your  true  interest 
and  your  natural  dignity,  freedom  they  can  have  from 
none  but  you.    This  is  the  commodity  of  price,  of  which 


88  EDMUND  BURKE 

you  have  the  monopoly.  This  is  the  true  Act  of  Naviga- 
tion, which  binds  to  you  the  commerce  of  the  colonies, 
and  through  them  secures  to  you  the  wealth  of  the  world. 
Deny  them  this  participation  of  freedom,  and  you  break 
that  sole  bond  which  originally  made  and  must  still  pre- 
serve the  unity  of  the  empire.  Do  not  entertain  so  weak 
an  imagination  as  that  your  registers  and  your  bonds, 
your  affidavits  and  your  sufferances,  your  cockets  and  your 
clearances  are  what  form  the  great  securities  of  your  com- 
merce. Do  not  dream  that  your  letters  of  office,  and 
your  instructions,  and  your  suspending  clauses,  are  the 
things  that  hold  together  the  great  contexture  of  the  mys- 
terious whole.  These  things  do  not  make  your  govern- 
ment. Dead  instruments,  passive  tools  as  they  are,  it  is 
the  spirit  of  the  English  communion  that  gives  all  their 
life  and  efficacy  to  them.  It  is  the  spirit  of  the  English 
Constitution  which,  infused  through  the  mighty  mass, 
pervades,  feeds,  unites,  invigorates,  vivifies  every  part  of 
the  Empire,  even  down  to  the  minutest  member. 

141.  Is  it  not  the  same  virtue  which  does  everything 
for  us  here  in  England  ?  Do  you  imagine,  then,  that  it  is 
the  Land  Tax  Act  which  raises  your  revenue?  that  it  is 
the  annual  vote  in  the  Committee  of  Supply  which  gives 
you  your  army?  or  that  it  is  the  Mutiny  Bill  which  in- 
spires it  with  bravery  and  discipline?  No!  surely  no! 
It  is  the  love  of  the  people ;  it  is  their  attachment  to  their 
government,  from  the  sense  of  the  deep  stake  they  have 
in  such  a  glorious  institution,  which  gives  you  your  army 
and  your  navy,  and  infuses  into  both  that  liberal  obedi- 
ence without  which  your  army  would  be  a  base  rabble, 
and  your  navy  nothing  but  rotten  timber. 

142.  All  this,  I  know  well  enough,  will  sound  wild 
and  chimerical  to  the  profane  herd  of  those  vulgar  and 
mechanical  politicians  who  have  no  place  among  us;  a  sort 
of  people  who  think  that  nothing  exists  but  what  is  gross 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         89 

and  material,  and  who,  therefore,  far  from  being  quali- 
fied to  be  directors  of  the  great  movement  of  empire,  are 
not  fit  to  turn  a  wheel  in  the  machine.  But  to  men 
truly  initiated  and  rightly  taught,  these  ruling  and  master 
principles,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  such  men  as  I  have 
mentioned,  have  no  substantial  existence,  are  in  truth 
everything,  and  all  in  all.  Magnanimity  in  politics  is 
not  seldom  the  truest  wisdom,  and  a  great  empire  and 
little  minds  go  ill  together.  If  we  are  conscious  of  our 
station,  and  glow  with  zeal  to  fill  our  places  as  becomes 
our  situation  and  ourselves,  we  ought  to  auspicate  all  our 
public  proceedings  on  America  with  the  old  warning  of 
the  church,  Sursum  cordaf4*  We  ought  to  elevate  our 
minds  to  the  greatness  of  that  trust  to  which  the  order 
of  Providence  has  called  us.  By  adverting  to  the  dignity 
of  this  high  calling,  our  ancestors  have  turned  a  savage 
wilderness  into  a  glorious  empire,  and  have  made  the 
most  extensive,  and  the  only  honorable  conquests,  not  by 
destroying,  but  by  promoting  the  wealth,  the  number,  the 
happiness  of  the  human  race.  Let  us  get  an  American 
revenue  as  we  have  got  an  American  empire.  English 
privileges  have  made  it  all  that  it  is;  English  privileges 
alone  will  make  it  all  it  can  be. 

143.  In  full  confidence  of  this  unalterable  truth,  I  nor/ 
(quod  felix  faustumque  sit)45  lay  the  first  stone  of  the 
Temple  of  Peace:  and  I  move  you — 

144.  Moved, 

I.  "  That  the  colonies  and  plantations  of  Great  Britain 
in  North  America,  consisting  of  fourteen  separate  gov- 
ernments, and  containing  two  millions  and  upwards  of 
free  inhabitants,  have  not  had  the  liberty  and  privilege 
of  electing  and  sending  any  knights  and  burgesses,  or 
others,  to  represent  them  in  the  high  court  of  Parlia- 
ment. 


go  EDMUND  BURKE 

145.  II.  "  That  the  said  colonies  and  plantations  have 
been  liable  to,  and  bounden  by,  several  subsidies,  pay- 
ments, rates  and  taxes,  given  and  granted  by  Parliament, 
though  the  said  colonies  and  plantations  have  not  their 
knights  and  burgesses  in  the  said  high  court  of  Parlia- 
ment, of  their  own  election,  to  represent  the  condition  of 
their  country ;  by  lack  whereof  they  have  been  oftentimes 
touched  and  grieved  by  subsidies  given,  granted  and  as- 
sented to,  in  the  said  court,  in  a  manner  prejudicial  to 
the  commonwealth,  quietness,  rest  and  peace  of  the  sub- 
jects inhabiting  within  the  same. 

146.  III.  "  That,  from  the  distance  of  the  said  colonies 
and  from  other  circumstances,  no  method  hath  hitherto 
been  devised  for  procuring  a  representation  in  Parliament 
for  the  said  colonies. 

147.  IV.  "  That  each  of  the  said  colonies  hath  within 
itself  a  body,  chosen  in  part  or  in  the  whole  by  the  free- 
men, freeholders  or  other  free  inhabitants  thereof,  com- 
monly called  the  general  assembly,  or  general  court;  with 
powers  legally  to  raise,  levy  and  assess,  according  to  the 
several  usages  of  such  colonies,  duties  and  taxes  towards 
defraying  all  sorts  of  public  services. 

148.  V.  "  That  the  said  general  assemblies,  general 
courts,  or  other  bodies  legally  qualified  as  aforesaid,  have 
at  sundry  times  freely  granted  several  large  subsidies  and 
public  aids  for  his  Majesty's  service,  according  to  their 
abilities,  when  required  thereto  by  letter  from  one  of  his 
Majesty's  principal  secretaries  of  state;  and  that  their 
right  to  grant  the  same  and  their  cheerfulness  and  suf- 
ficiency in  the  said  grants  have  been  at  sundry  times  ac- 
knowledged by  Parliament. 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         91 


149.  VI.  "  That  it  hath  been  found  by  experience  that 
the  manner  of  granting  the  said  supplies  and  aids  by  the 
said  general  assemblies  hath  been  more  agreeable  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  said  colonies,  and  more  beneficial  and 
conducive  to  the  public  service,  than  the  mode  of  giving 
and  granting  aids  and  subsidies  in  Parliament,  to  be  raised 
and  paid  in  the  said  colonies.,, 

150.  VII.  "That  it  may  be  proper  to  repeal  an  act 
made  in  the  seventh  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present  Maj- 
esty, entitled,  '  An  act  for  granting  certain  duties  in  the 
British  colonies  and  plantations  in  America;  for  allowing 
a  drawback  of  the  duties  of  customs  upon  the  exportation 
from  this  kingdom,  of  coffee  and  cocoanuts  of  the  produce 
of  the  said  colonies  or  plantations;  for  discontinuing  the 
drawbacks  payable  on  China  earthenware  exported  to 
America;  and  for  more  effectually  preventing  the  clan- 
destine running  of  goods  in  the  said  colonies  and  planta- 
tions/ 

151.  VIII.  "That  it  may  be  proper  to  repeal  an  act 
made  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present 
Majesty,  entitled,  '  An  act  to  discontinue,  in  such  manner 
and  for  such  time  as  are  therein  mentioned,  the  landing 
and  discharging,  lading  or  shipping,  of  goods,  wares  and 
merchandise,  at  the  town  and  within  the  harbor  of  Bos- 
ton, in  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  North 
America/ 

152.  IX.  "That  it  may  be  proper  to  repeal  an  act 
made  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present 
Majesty,  entitled,  '  An  act  for  the  impartial  administra- 
tion of  justice  in  the  cases  of  persons  questioned  for  any 
acts  done  by  them  in  the  execution  of  the  law,  or  for  the 
suppression  of  riots  and  tumults,  in  the  province  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  in  New  England,' 


92  EDMUND  BURKE 

153.  X.  "  That  it  may  be  proper  to  repeal  an  act 
made  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  his  present 
Ilajesty,  entitled,  'An  act  for  the  better  regulating  the 
government  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New 
England.' 

154.  XL  "  That  it  may  be  proper  to  explain  and 
amend  an  act  made  in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  the  reign 
of  King  Henry  the  Eighth,  entitled  '  An  act  for  the  trial 
of  treasons  committed  out  of  the  king's  dominions. ' 

155.  XII.  "  That  from  the  time  when  the  general  as- 
sembly, or  general  court,  of  any  colony  or  plantation  in 
North  America  shall  have  appointed  by  act  of  assembly 
duly  confirmed,  a  settled  salary  to  the  offices  of  the  chief 
justice  and  other  judges  of  the  superior  courts,  it  may  be 
proper  that  the  said  chief  justice  and  other  judges  of  the 
superior  courts  of  such  colony  shall  hold  his  and  their 
office  and  offices  during  their  good  behavior,  and  shall  not 
be  removed  therefrom  but  when  the  said  removal  shall  be 
adjudged  by  his  Majesty  in  council,  upon  a  hearing  on 
complaint  from  the  general  assembly,  or  on  a  complaint 
from  the  governor  or  council  or  the  house  of  representa- 
tives severally,  of  the  colony  in  which  the  said  chief  jus- 
tice and  other  judges  have  exercised  the  said  offices. 

156.  XIII.  "  That  it  may  be  proper  to  regulate  the 
courts  of  admiralty  or  vice-admiralty  authorized  by  the 
fifteenth  chapter  of  the  fourth  of  George  the  Third,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  make  the  same  more  commodious  to 
those  who  sue  and  are  sued  in  the  said  courts;  and  to 
provide  for  the  more  decent  maintenance  of  the  judges  of 
the  same." 

Why  was  the  British  government  so  determined  to  assert  its 
right  to  tax  America? 


CONCILIATION  WITH  AMERICA         93 

What  was  Lord  North's  plan  and  why  was  it  not  suitable  as 
a  remedy? 

State  briefly  the  substance  of  Burke's  conciliatory  resolutions. 

Chatham,  Wilkes,  and  Burke  each  considered  the  American 
question  one  of  the  most  important  that  had  been  brought  before 
the  House  of  Commons.  How  do  they  seem  to  differ  regarding 
the  reason  for  its  importance? 

If  Burke's  plan  had  been  followed,  what  would  probably 
have  been  the  effect  on  the  history  of  the  British  Empire? 

How  do  you  think  the  history  of  America  would  have  been 
influenced  if  Burke's  plan  had  been  followed? 

By  what  means  did  Burke  hope  to  infuse  the  colonies  with  a 
patriotic  love  for  English  institutions  and  the  empire? 

Was  any  part  of  Burke's  plan  introduced  into  later  colonial 
policy? 

Discuss  the  accuracy  of  Burke's  estimate  of  colonial  char- 
acter. 

What  democratic  principle,  advocated  by  Burke  in  this  speech, 
has  since  his  time  become  commonly  accepted  as  characteristic 
of  just   and   sound  government? 

How  does  Burke's  style  differ  from  that  of  Otis,  Chatham, 
and   Wilkes? 

What  are  the  persuasive  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
such  a  style? 

Would  Burke's  oratorical  style  be  more  or  less  acceptable  in 
our  day  than  it  was  in  1775?     Why? 

Comment  briefly  on  Burke's  emphasis  on  causes   and  results. 

Enumerate  the  various  motives  to  which  Burke  appealed. 

Point  out  instances  where  Burke's  diction  is  a  source  of  per- 
suasive power. 

Knowing  what  you  do  of  the  audience  and  Burke's  speech, 
how  do  you  account  for  the  fact  that  the  House  of  Commons 
rejected  his  plan  by  a  vote  of  270  to  78? 


LIBERTY  OR  DEATH 

March  23,   1775 

On  March  23,  1775,  the  old  church  at  Richmond,  Va. 
was  crowded  to  the  doors  by  the  Convention  of  Dele- 
gates. George  Washington  and  other  prominent  men 
were  there  in  the  audience.  Five  days  previously, 
Henry  had  spoken  of  war  with  England  as  inevitable, 
and  had  introduced  resolutions  for  defense.  Many  of 
the  ablest  men  in  the  colonies  considered  this  action 
premature.  Many  conceded  that  war  was  possible,  even 
probable;  but  no  one  had  ventured  to  declare  it 
unavoidable.  Feeling  against  the  Mother  Country  was 
running  decidedly  high,  and  when  Henry  had  concluded 
his  "  individual  declaration  of  war  against  Great 
Britain,"  the  Convention  of  Delegates  was  a  new 
body.  "  To  arms,"  seemed  to  quiver  on  every  lip ; 
their  souls  were  on  fire  for  action.  Tyler  says,  "  Henry 
rose  with  an  unearthly  fire  burning  in  his  eye.  He 
commenced  somewhat  calmly,  but  the  smothered  ex- 
citement began  more  and  more  to  play  upon  his  fea- 
tures and  thrill  in  the  tones  of  his  voice.  The  tendons 
of  his  neck  stood  out  white  and  rigid  like  whipcords. 
His  voice  rose  louder  and  louder,  until  the  walls  of 
the  building,  and  all  within  them  seemed  to  shake  and 
rock  in  its  tremendous  vibrations.  Finally  his  pale 
face  and  glaring  eyes  became  terrible  to  look  upon. 
Men  leaned  forward  in  their  seats,  with  their  heads 
strained  forward,  their  faces  pale,  and  their  eyes 
glaring  like  the  speaker's.  His  last  exclamation, 
*  Give  me  liberty  or  give '  me  death ! '  was  like  the 
shout  of  the  leader  which  turns  the  rout  of  battle." 

94 


LIBERTY  OR  DEATH  95 

LIBERTY  OR  DEATH 

Patrick  Henry 

No  man  thinks  more  highly  than  I  do  of  the  patriotism, 
as  well  as  abilities,  of  the  very  worthy  gentlemen  who 
have  just  addressed  the  House.  But  different  men  often 
see  the  same  subject  in  different  lights;  and,  therefore, 
I  hope  it  will  not  be  thought  disrespectful  to  those 
gentlemen,  if,  entertaining  as  I  do  opinions  of  a  char- 
acter very  opposite  to  theirs,  I  shall  speak  forth  my  senti- 
ments freely  and  without  reserve.  This  is  no  time  for 
ceremony. 

The  question  before  the  House  is  one  of  awful  moment 
to  this  country.  For  my  own  part,  I  consider  it  as  noth- 
ing less  than  a  question  of  freedom  or  slavery;  and  in 
proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  subject  ought  to  be 
the  freedom  of  the  debate.  It  is  only  in  this  way  that  we 
can  hope  to  arrive  at  truth,  and  fulfil  the  great  responsi- 
bility which  we  hold  to  God  and  our  country.  Should 
I  keep  back  my  opinions  at  such  a  time,  through  fear  of 
giving  offense,  I  should  consider  myself  as  guilty  of  trea- 
son toward  my  country,  and  of  an  act  of  disloyalty  toward 
the  Majesty  of  Heaven,  which  I  revere  above  all  earthly 
kings. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  natural  to  man  to  indulge  in  the 
illusions  of  hope.  We  are  apt  to  shut  our  eyes  against  a 
painful  truth,  and  listen  to  the  song  of  that  siren,  till  she 
transforms  us  into  beasts.  Is  this  the  part  of  wise  men, 
engaged  in  a  great  and  arduous  struggle  for  liberty?  Are 
we  disposed  to  be  of  the  number  of  those,  who,  having 
eyes,  see  not,  and  having  ears,  hear  not,  the  things  which 
so  nearly  concern  their  temporal  salvation  ?  For  my  part, 
whatever  anguish  of  spirit  it  may  cost,  I  am  willing  to 


96  PATRICK  HENRY 

know  the  whole  truth ;  to  know  the  worst,  and  to  provide 
for  it. 

I  have  but  one  lamp  by  which  my  feet  are  guided ;  and 
that  is  the  lamp  of  experience.  I  know  of  no  way  of 
judging  of  the  future  but  by  the  past.  And  judging  pje 
the  past,  I  wish  to  know  what  there  has  been  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  British  ministry,  for  the  last  ten  years,  to 
justify  those  hopes  with  which  gentlemen  have  been 
pleased  to  solace  themselves  and  the  House?  Is  it  that 
insidious  smile1  with  which  our  petition  has  been  lately 
received  ?  Trust  it  not,  sir ;  it  will  prove  a  snare  to  your 
feet.  Suffer  not  yourself  to  be  betrayed  with  a  kiss.  Ask 
yourselves  how  this  gracious  reception  of  our  petition 
comports  with  those  warlike  preparations  which  cover 
our  waters  and  darken  our  land.  Are  fleets  and  armies 
necessary  to  a  work  of  love  and  reconciliation?  Have  we 
shown  ourselves  so  unwilling  to  be  reconciled,  that  force 
must  be  called  in  to  win  back  our  love?  Let  us  not 
deceive  ourselves,  sir.  These  are  the  implements  of  war 
and  subjugation ;  the  last  arguments  to  which  kings 
resort. 

I  ask  gentlemen,  sir,  what  means  this  martial  array,  if 
its  purpose  be  not  to  force  us  to  submission  ?  Can  gentle- 
men assign  any  other  possible  motive  for  it.  Has  Great 
Britain  any  enemy  in  this  quarter  of  the  world  to  call  for 
all  this  accumulation  of  navies  and  armies?  No,  sir,  she 
has  none.  They  are  meant  for  us;  they  can  be  meant  for 
no  other.  They  are  sent  over  to  bind  and  rivet  upon  us 
those  chains,  which  the  British  ministry  have  been  so  long 
forging.  And  what  have  we  to  oppose  to  them?  Shall 
we  try  argument?  Sir,  we  have  been  trying  that  for  the 
last  ten  years.  Have  we  anything  new  to  offer  upon  the 
subject?  Nothing.  We  have  held  the  subject  up  in  every 
light  of  which  it  is  capable;  but  it  has  been  all  in  vain. 
Shall   we   resort   to    entreaty    and    humble   supplication? 


LIBERTY-  OR  DEATH  97 

What  terms  shall  we  find,  which  have  not  been  already 
exhausted?  Let  us  not,  I  beseech  you,  sir,  deceive  our- 
selves longer.  Sir,  we  have  done  everything  that  could 
be  done  to  avert  the  storm  which  is  now  coming  on.  We 
have  petitioned ;  we  have  remonstrated ;  we  have  suppli- 
cated; we  have  prostrated  ourselves  before  the  throne, 
and  have  implored  its  interposition  to  arrest  the  tyran- 
nical hands  of  the  ministry  and  Parliament.  Our  peti- 
tions have  been  slighted ;  our  remonstrances  have  produced 
additional  violence  and  insult;  our  supplications  have 
been  disregarded;  and  we  have  been  spurned,  with  con- 
tempt, from  the  foot  of  the  throne!  In  vain,  after  these 
things,  may  we  indulge  the  fond  hope  of  peace  and  recon- 
ciliation. There  is  no  longer  any  room  for  hope.  If  we 
wish  to  be  free — if  we  mean  to  preserve  inviolate  those 
inestimable  privileges  for  which  we  have  been  so  long 
contending — if  we  mean  not  basely  to  abandon  the  noble 
struggle  in  which  we  have  been  so  long  engaged,  and 
which  we  have  pledged  ourselves  never  to  abandon,  until 
the  glorious  object  of  our  contest  shall  be  obtained — we 
must  fight!  I  repeat  it,  sir,  we  must  fight!  An  appeal 
to  arms  and  to  the  God  of  Hosts  is  all  that  is  left  us! 
/,  They  tell  us,  sir,  that  we  are  weak — unable  to  cope 
with  so  formidable  an  adversary.  But  when  shall  we  be 
•stronger?  Will  it  be  the  next  week,  or  the  next  year? 
Will  it  be  when  we  are  totally  disarmed,  and  when  a 
British  guard  shall  be  stationed  in  every  house?  Shall 
we  gather  strength  by  irresolution  and  inaction?  Shall 
we  acquire  the  means  of  effectual  resistance  by  lying 
supinely  on  our  backs  and  hugging  the  delusive  phantom 
of  hope,  until  our  enemies  shall  have  bound  us  hand  and 
foot? 

Sir,  we  are  not  weak  if  we  make  a  proper  use  of  those 
means  which  the  God  of  nature  has  placed  in  our  power. 
Three   millions   of   people   armed    in   the   holy   cause   of 


98  PATRICK  HENRY 

liberty,  and  in  such  a  country  as  that  which  we  possess, 
are  invincible  by  any  force  which  our  enemy  can  send 
against  us.  Besides,  sir,  we  shall  not  fight  our  battles 
alone.  There  is  a  just  God  who  presides  over  the  destinies 
of  nations,  and  who  will  raise  up  friends  to  fight  our 
battles  for  us.  The  battle,  sir,  is  not  to  the  strong  alone; 
it  is  to  the  vigilant,  the  active,  the  brave.  Besides,  sir, 
we  have  no  election.  If  we  were  base  enough  to  desire  it, 
it  is  now  too  late  to  retire  from  the  contest.  There  is  no 
retreat  but  in  submission  and  slavery!  Our  chains  are 
forged!  Their  clanking  may  be  heard  on  the  plains  of 
Boston!  The  war  is  inevitable — and  let  it  come!  I 
repeat  it,  sir,  let  it  come! 

It  is  in  vain,  sir,  to  extenuate  the  matter.  Gentlemen 
may  cry  "  Peace,  peace  " — but  there  is  no  peace.  The 
war  is  actually  begun!  The  next  gale  that  sweeps  from 
the  north  will  bring  to  our  ears  the  clash  of  resounding 
arms!  Our  brethren  are  already  in  the  field!  Why 
stand  we  here  idle?  What  is  it  that  gentlemen  wish? 
What  would  they  have?  Is  life  so  dear,  or  peace  so 
sweet,  as  to  be  purchased  at  the  price  of  chains  and 
slavery?  Forbid  it,  Almighty  God!  I  know  not  what 
course  others  may  take;  but  as  for  me,  give  me  liberty 
or  give  me  death! 

To  what  land  did  Henry  refer  when  in  the  second  paragraph 
he   spoke   of  treason  to  his  country? 

Does  Henry  offer  sound  arguments  for  immediate  action? 

Had  the  injustice  of  the  British  government  materially  af- 
fected   living  conditions   in  America? 

Does  Henry  anywhere  appeal  to  the  ambitions  of  his  hearers 
or  hold  before  them  financial  or  material  arguments  for  inde- 
pendence? 

Discuss  the  persuasive  value  of  Henry's  offering  to  stand  alone 
unto  death,  if  need  be,  rather  than  submit.  Refer  to  other 
instances  in  history  or  literature  of  similar  emotional  appeal. 

Point  out  the  many  biblical  phrases  and  comment  on  their 
persuasive    value. 


LIBERTY  OR  DEATH  99 

To  what  motives  and  emotions  did  Henry  address  his  appeal? 

As  compared  with  Otis,  is  his  speech  chiefly  argumentative 
or  persuasive? 

Is  the  current  popularity  of  this  speech  due  chiefly  to  its 
literary  value,  to  its  historical  associations,  or  to  its  apprecia- 
tion of  liberty? 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS 

September   19,   1796 

George  Washington  busied  himself  with  the  affairs 
of  his  household  and  estate  for  one  month  after  he 
had  listened  to  Patrick  Henry's  impassioned  appeal; 
and  then,  at  the  call  of  the  Continental  Congress,  set 
out,  May  3,  1775,  for  Philadelphia.  He  little  dreamed 
that  eight  years  would  go  by  before  he  would  again  be 
free  to  enjoy  the  leisure  of  his  home  and  fields. 

On  June  15,  1775,  he  was  made  commander-in-chief 
of  the  American  forces.  A  few  weeks  later  at  Cam- 
bridge he  inspected  the  troops  and  found  them  without 
discipline,  without  munitions,  and  without  food.  In 
response  to  his  most  urgent  requisitions,  Congress 
either  granted  supplies  grudgingly  or  delayed  action. 
How  under  these  disheartening  conditions  he  was  able 
to  form  an  army  and  lead  it  to  victory  is  almost  in- 
comprehensible. 

The  state  of  public  opinion,  moreover,  caused  Wash- 
ington nearly  as  much  concern  as  the  condition  of  his 
army.  He  was  continually  harassed  by  hostile  criti- 
cism. More  than  once,  against  his  better  judgment,  he 
was  forced  to  fight  battles  that  became  defeats.  But 
at  last  the  righteousness  of  the  cause  and  his  indomita- 
ble courage  prevailed.  In  the  course  of  six  years  he  led 
his  army  through  Valley  Forge  to  Yorktown,  where  in 
1781  Cornwallis  surrendered. 

On  Christmas  Eve,  1783,  Washington  returned  to 
Mount  Vernon,  hoping  to  pass  his  life  with  his  house- 
hold in  peaceful  enjoyment  of  the  victory  he  had  won. 

100 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    101 

It  was  not  to  be  his  privilege,  however,  to  live  the  life 
of  a  private  citizen.  Those  were  perilous  years  that 
followed  the  war.  Once  when  bloodshed  and  insur- 
rection seemed  imminent,  by  personal  influence  Wash- 
ington had  quelled  the  disturbance  and  had  aroused 
the  patriotism  of  the  disputants.  In  like  manner  from 
time  to  time  he  was  summoned  from  Mount  Vernon 
when  danger  menaced  the  country  in  near  or  remote 
regions.  Finally  in  1787,  when  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention met  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  made  chairman. 
Washington  had  feared  that  when  disputes  arose,  the 
Confederation — which  was  merely  a  league  of  friend- 
ship— would  lack  power  to  compel  obedience.  He  had 
called  it  a  shadow  without  substance.  At  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention,  accordingly,  he  assisted  Hamil- 
ton in  securing  the  adoption  of  a  constitution  that 
created  a  strong  central  government. 

In  1789,  when  elected  president,  he  possessed  in  this 
constitution  the  working-plan  for  forming  a  Union. 
But  he  was  without  models  or  precedents  for  such 
statecraft.  Out  of  thirteen  diverse  commonwealths,  it 
was  his  duty  to  build  a  nation.  He  had  even  to  create 
a  national  spirit.  Under  the  Confederation  the  states 
had  been  loosely  joined  and  had  regarded  one  another 
with  almost  as  much  jealousy  as  if  they  had  been  for- 
eign countries.  The  wonder  was  not  that  there  were 
differences  in  1789  but  rather  that  they  had  been  able 
to  unite  as  they  did  in  1775.  Almost  every  one  re- 
garded the  Union  as  an  experiment  and  many  be- 
lieved that  it  could  not  long  exist.  The  Constitution 
had  not  been  adopted  unanimously ;  and  a  thousand 
men  were  already  advocating  a  thousand  changes. 
Some  states  were  on  the  verge  of  secession ;  there  were 
post-revolutionary  troubles  such  as  now  exist  in  Rus- 
sia; demagogues  were  rampant.    Only  the  clear-eyed 


102    WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS 

could  see  anything  but  confusion.  The  story,  which 
will  not  be  told  here,  of  how  Washington  unified  and 
harmonized  these  diverse  and  conflicting  elements,  is 
even  more  marvelous  than  the  account  of  the  victory 
he  had  won  over  England  by  the  aid  of  his  ragged  and 
half-starved  troops. 

When  at  length  indecision  and  confusion  had  been 
banished,  Washington  found  that  definite  and  very 
real  perils  had  taken  their  place.  On  account  of  eco- 
nomic differences  the  South  became  pitted  against  the 
North.  A  part  of  the  people  wished  to  join  with  the 
French  revolutionists  in  their  war  against  England; 
others  wanted  to  fight  Spain,  with  the  hope  of  opening 
up  the  Mississippi  valley.  In  Pennsylvania  the  author- 
ity of  the  Federal  government  to  lay  taxes  had  been 
disputed  and  it  took  fifteen  thousand  men  to  end  the 
uprising.  These  newer  perils  Washington  met  one  by 
one  and  terminated  them,  or  at  least  made  them  less 
dangerous. 

It  was  with  no  little  sacrifice  that  Washington  de- 
voted himself  to  public  affairs.  His  tastes  were  nat- 
urally domestic.  He  took  no  pleasure  in  glory  or  vain 
show.  He  would  have  preferred  to  live  quietly  on  the 
estate  that  he  had  cherished  and  adorned  in  the  early 
years  of  his  manhood.  More  than  once  he  had  sug- 
gested retirement  from  public  life  but  had  been  per- 
suaded by  the  appeals  of  his  countrymen  to  resume  the 
burden  of  government.  Finally,  however,  near  the 
close  of  his  second  term  as  president,  he  realized  that 
no  persuasion,  however  appreciative  or  loyal,  could 
heal  the  infirmities  of  age;  and  he  declined  to  be  a 
candidate  for  reelection. 

He  had  devoted  forty-five  years  of  his  life  to  his 
country  and  for  twenty-five  years  had  rendered  service 
that  no  other  man  could  have  given.    With  an  affection 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    103 

for  the  Union  as  fervent  as  the  love  of  a  father  for 
his  child,  he  prepared  his  Farewell  Address.  His 
words  reflect  the  labors,  sacrifices,  and  hopes  of  one 
who  had  led  his  country  through  the  most  critical 
period  of  its  history  and  was  at  length  compelled  to 
place  the  supreme  object  of  his  affection  in  the  hands 
of  others.  With  parental  solicitude  Washington  ap- 
pealed to  the  American  people  to  act  thoughtfully,  de- 
liberately, and  reasonably  in  all  that  concerns  the  wel- 
fare of  the  country.  With  sagacity  and  insight  almost 
prophetic,  he  warned  them  against  perils  without  and 
perils  within.  So  thoughtfully  is  his  advice  expressed 
that  it  is  as  valuable  to-day  as  when  first  written.  Its 
maxims  are  founded  both  upon  the  wisdom  that  comes 
from  experience  and  upon  sound  principles  of  gov- 
ernment. 


FAREWELL  ADDRESS   TO   THE   PEOPLE   OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES 

George  Washington 

Friends  and  Fellow-Citizens: 

The  period  for  a  1  new  election  of  a  citizen,  to  admin- 
ister the  executive  government  of  the  United  States, 
being  not  far  distant,  and  the  time  actually  arrived,  when 
your  thoughts  must  be  employed  in  designating  the  per- 
son, who  is  to  be  clothed  with  that  important  trust,  it 
appears  to  me  proper,  especially  as  it  may  conduce  to  a 
more  distinct  expression  of  the  public  voice,  that  I  should 
now  apprize  you  of  the  resolution  I  have  formed,  to  de- 
cline being  considered  among  the  number  of  those,  out  of 
whom  a  choice  is  to  be  made. 


io4  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

I  beg  you,  at  the  same  time,  to  do  me  the  justice  to  be 
assured,  that  this  resolution  has  not  been  taken  without 
a  strict  regard  to  all  the  considerations  appertaining  to 
the  relation,  which  binds  a  dutiful  citizen  to  his  country; 
and  that,  in  withdrawing  the  tender  of  service,  which 
silence  in  my  situation  might  imply,  I  am  influenced  by 
no  diminution  of  zeal  for  your  future  interest;  no  de- 
ficiency of  grateful  respect  for  your  past  kindness;  but 
am  supported  by  a  full  conviction  that  the  step  is  com- 
patible with  both. 

The  acceptance  of,  and  continuance  hitherto  in,  the 
office  to  which  your  suffrages  have  twice  called  me,  have 
been  a  uniform  sacrifice  of  inclination  to  the  opinion  of 
duty,  and  to  a  deference  for  what  appeared  to  be  your 
desire.  I  constantly  hoped  that  it  would  have  been  much 
earlier  in  my  power,  consistently  with  motives  which  I 
was  not  at  liberty  to  disregard,  to  return  to  that  retire- 
ment from  which  I  had  been  reluctantly  drawn.  The 
strength  of  my  inclination  to  do  this,  previous  to  the  last 
election,  had  even  led  to  the  preparation  of  an  address 
to  declare  it  to  you ;  but  mature  reflection  on  the  then 
perplexed  and  critical  posture  of  our  affairs  with  foreign 
nations,  and  the  unanimous  advice  of  persons  entitled  to 
my  confidence,  impelled  me  to  abandon  the  idea. 

I  rejoice  that  the  state  of  your  concerns,  external  as 
well  as  internal,  no  longer  renders  the  pursuit  of  inclina- 
tion incompatible  with  the  sentiment  of  duty  or  pro- 
priety; and  am  persuaded,  whatever  partiality  may  be 
retained  for  my  services,  that  in  the  present  circumstances 
of  our  country  you  will  not  disapprove  my  determination 
to  retire. 

The  impressions  with  which  I  first  undertook  the 
arduous  trust  were  explained 2  on  the  proper  occasion. 
In  the  discharge  of  this  trust  I  will  only  say  that  I  have, 
with  good  intentions,  contributed  towards  the  organiza- 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    105 

tion  and  administration  of  the  government  the  best  ex- 
ertions of  which  a  very  fallible  judgment  was  capable. 
.Not  unconscious,  in  the  outset,  of  3  the  inferiority  of  my 
qualifications,  experience  in  my  own  eyes,  perhaps  still 
more  in  the  eyes  of  others,  has  strengthened  the  motives 
to  diffidence  of  myself;  and  every  day  the  increasing 
weight  of  years  admonishes  me  more  and  more  that  the 
shade  of  retirement  is  as  necessary  to  me  as  it  will  be 
welcome.  Satisfied,  that,  if  any  circumstances  have  given 
peculiar  value  to  my  services,  they  were  temporary,  I 
have  the  consolation  to  believe,  that,  while  choice  and 
prudence  invite  me  to  quit  the  political  scene,  patriotism 
does  not  forbid  it. 

Tin  looking  forward  to  the  moment,  which  is  intended 
to  terminate  the  career  of  my  public  life,  my  feelings  do 
not  permit  me  to  suspend  the  deep  acknowledgment  of 
that  debt  of  gratitude,  which  I  owe  to  my  beloved  coun- 
try for  the  many  honors  it  has  conferred  upon  me;  still 
more  for  the  steadfast  confidence  with  which  it  has  sup- 
ported me;  and  for  the  opportunities  I  have  thence  en- 
joyed of  manifesting  my  inviolable  attachment,  by 
services  faithful  and  persevering,-  though  in  usefulness 
unequal  to  my  zeal.  If  benefits'  have  resulted  to  our  •♦ 
country  from  these  services,  let  it  always  be  remembered 
to  your  praise,  and  as  an  instructive  example  in  our  an- 
nals, that  under  circumstances  in  which  the  passions, 
agitated  in  every  direction,  were  liable  to  mislead,  amidst 
appearances  sometimes  dubious,  vicissitudes  of  fortune 
often  discouraging,  in  situations  in  which  not  unfre- 
quently  want  of  success  has  countenanced  the  spirit  of 
criticism,  the  constancy  of  your  support  was  the  essential 
prop  of  the  efforts,  and  a  guarantee  of  the  plans  by  which 
they  were  effected.  Profoundly  penetrated  with  this  idea,<<> 
I  shall  carry  it  with  me  to  my  grave,  as  a  strong  incite- 
ment to  unceasing  vows  that  Heaven  may  continue  to  you 


io6  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

the  choicest  tokens  of  its  beneficence;  that  your  union 
and  brotherly  affection  may  be  perpetual;  that  the  free 
constitution,  which  is  the  work  of  your  hands,  may  be. 
sacredly  maintained ;  that  its  administration  in  every  de- 
partment may  be  stamped  with  wisdom  and  virtue;  that, 
in  fine,  the  happiness  of  the  people  of  these  states,  under 
the  auspices  of  liberty,  may  be  made  complete,  by  so 
careful  a  preservation  and  so  prudent  a  use  of  this  bless- 
ing, as  will  acquire  to  them  the  glory  of  recommending 
it  to  the  applause,  the  affection,  and  adoption  of  every 
nation  which  is  yet  a  stranger  to  it. 

Here,  perhaps,  I  ought  to  stop.  But  a  solicitude  for 
your  welfare,  which  cannot  end  but  with  my  life,  and 
the  apprehension  of  danger,  natural  to  that  solicitude, 
urge  me,  on  an  occasion  like  the  present,  to  ofTer  to  your 
solemn  contemplation,  and  to  recommend  to  your  frequent 
review,  some  sentiments,  which  are  the  result  of  much 
reflection,  of  no  inconsiderable  observation,  and  which 
appear  to  me  all-important  to  the  permanency  of  your 
felicity  as  a  people.  These  will  be  offered  to  you  with 
the  more  freedom,  as  you  can  only  see  in  them  the  dis- 
interested warnings  of  a  parting  friend,  who  can  possibly 
have  no  personal  motive  to  bias  his  counsel.  Nor  can  I 
forget,  as  an  encouragement  to  it,  your  indulgent  recep- 
tion of  my  sentiments  on  4  a  former  and  not  dissimilar 
occasion. 

Interwoven  as  is  the  love  of  liberty  with  every  liga- 
ment of  your  hearts,  no  recommendation  of  mine  is  neces- 
sary to  fortify  or  confirm  the  attachment. 

The  unity  of  government,  which  constitutes  you  one 
people,  is  also  now  dear  to  you.  It  is  justly  so:  for  it 
is  a  main  pillar  in  the  edifice  of  your  real  independence, 
the  support  of  your  tranquillity  at  home,  your  peace 
abroad;  of  your  safety;  of  your  prosperity;  of  that  very 
liberty  which  you  so  highly  prize.     But  as  it  is  easy  to 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    107 

foresee  that,  from  different  causes  and  from  different 
quarters,  much  pains  will  be  taken,  many  artifices  em- 
ployed, to  weaken  in  your  minds  the  conviction  of  this 
truth ;  as  this  is  the  point  in  your  political  fortress  against 
which  the  batteries  of  internal  and  external  enemies  will 
be  most  constantly  and  actively  (though  often  covertly 
and  insidiously)  directed,  it  is  of  infinite  moment,  that 
you  should  properly  estimate  the  immense  value  of  your 
national  Union  to  your  collective  and  individual  happi- 
ness; that  you  should  cherish  a  cordial,  habitual,  and  im- 
movable attachment  to  it ;  accustoming  yourselves  to  think 
and  speak  of  it  as  of  the  5  Palladium  of  your  political 
safety  and  prosperity;  watching  for  its  preservation  with 
jealous  anxiety;  discountenancing  whatever  may  suggest 
even  a  suspicion,  that  it  can  in  any  event  be  abandoned; 
and  indignantly  frowning  upon  the  first  dawning  of  every 
attempt  to  alienate  any  portion  of  our  country  from  the 
rest,  or  to  enfeeble  the  sacred  ties  which  now  link  to- 
gether the  various  parts. 

For  this  you  have  every  inducement  of  sympathy  and 
interest.  Citizens,  by  birth  or  choice,?  of  a  common  coun- 
try, that  country  has  a  right  to  concentrate  your  affec- 
tions. (  The  name  of  American,  which  belongs  to  you,  in 
your  national  capacity,  must  always  exalt  the  just  pride 
of  patriotism,  Jmore  than  any  appellation  derived  from 
local  discriminations.  With  slight  shades  of  difference, 
you  have  the  same  religion,  manners,  habits,  and  political 
principles.  You  have  in  a  common  cause  fought  and 
triumphed  together;  the  independence  and  liberty  you 
possess  are  the  work  of  joint  counsels,  and  joint  efforts, 
of  common  dangers,  sufferings,  and  successes. 

But  these  considerations,  however  powerfully  they  ad- 
dress themselves  to  your  sensibility,  are  greatly  out- 
weighed by  those,  which  apply  more  immediately  to  your 
interest.      Here  every  portion  of  our  country  finds  the 


108  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

most  commanding  motives  for  carefully  guarding  and 
preserving  the  union  of  the  whole. 

The  North,  in  an  unrestrained  intercourse  with  the 
South,  protected  by  the  equal  laws  of  a  common  govern- 
ment, finds  in  the  productions  of  the  latter  great  addi- 
tional resources  of  maritime  and  commercial  enterprise 
and  precious  materials  of  manufacturing  industry.  The 
South  in  the  same  intercourse,  benefiting  by  the  agency 
of  the  North,  sees  its  agriculture  grow  and  its  commerce 
expand.  Turning  partly  into  its  own  channels  the  sea- 
men of  the  North,  it  finds  its  particular  navigation  in- 
vigorated; and  while  it  contributes  in  different  ways  to 
nourish  and  increase  the  general  mass  of  the  national 
navigation,  it  looks  forward  to  the  protection  of  a  mari- 
time strength  to  which  itself  is  unequally  adapted.  The 
East,  in  a  like  intercourse  with  the  West,  already  finds, 
and  in  the  progressive  improvement  of  interior  communi- 
cations, by  land  and  water,  will  more  and  more  find,  a 
valuable  vent  for  the  commodities  which  it  brings  from 
abroad,  or  manufactures  at  home.  The  West  derives 
from  the  East  supplies  requisite  to  its  growth  and  com- 
fort, and  what  is  perhaps  of  still  greater  consequence,  it 
must  of  necessity  owe  the  secure  enjoyment  of  indispensa- 
ble outlets  for  its  own  productions  to  the  weight,  influ- 
ence, and  the  future  maritime  strength  of  the  Atlantic 
side  of  the  Union,  directed  by  an  indissoluble  community 
of  interest  as  one  nation.  Any  other  tenure  by  which  the 
West  can  hold  this  essential  advantage,  whether  derived 
from  its  own  separate  strength,  or  from  an  apostate  and 
unnatural  connection  with  any  foreign  power,  must  be 
intrinsically  precarious. 

While,  then,  every  part  of  our  country  thus  feels  an 
immediate  and  particular  interest  in  union,  all  the  parts 
combined  cannot  fail  to  find  in  the  united  mass  of  means 
and  efforts  greater  strength,  greater  resource,  proportion- 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    109 

ably  greater  security  from  external  danger,  a  less  fre- 
quent interruption  of  their  peace  by  foreign  nations;  and, 
what  is  of  inestimable  value,  they  must  derive  from 
union  an  exemption  from  those  broils  and  wars  between 
themselves,  which  so  frequently  afflict  neighboring  coun- 
tries not  tied  together  by  the  same  governments,  which 
their  own  rivalships  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  produce, 
but  which  opposite  foreign  alliances,  attachments,  and 
intrigues  would  stimulate  and  embitter.  Hence,  likewise, 
they  will  avoid  the  necessity  of  those  overgrown  military 
establishments,  which,  under  any  form  of  government, 
are  inauspicious  to  liberty,  and  which  are  to  be  regarded 
as  particularly  hostile  to  Republican  liberty.  In  this 
sense  it  is,  that  your  Union  ought  to  be  considered  as 
a  main  prop  of  your  liberty,  and  that  the  love  of  the 
one  ought  to  endear  to  you  the  preservation  of  the  other. 

These  considerations  speak  a  persuasive  language  to 
every  reflecting  and  virtuous  mind,  and  exhibit  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  Union  as  a  primary  object  of  patriotic 
desire.  Is  there  a  doubt,  whether  a  common  government 
can  embrace  so  large  a  sphere?  Let  experience  solve  it. 
To  listen  to  mere  speculation  in  such  a  case  were  crim- 
inal. We  are  authorized  to  hope,  that  a  proper  organ- 
ization of  the  whole,  with  the  auxiliary  agency  of  gov- 
ernments for  the  respective  subdivisions,  will  afford  a 
happy  issue  to  the  experiment.  It  is  well  worth  a  fair 
and  full  experiment.  With  such  powerful  and  obvious 
motives  to  union,  affecting  all  parts  of  our  country,  while 
experience  shall  not  have  demonstrated  its  impracticabil- 
ity, there  will  always  be  reason  to  distrust  the  patriotism 
of  those  who  in  any  quarter  may  endeavor  to  weaken  its 
bands. 

In  contemplating  the  causes  which  may  disturb  our 
Union,  it  occurs  as  matter  of  serious  concernment  that 
any   ground   should   have   been   furnished    for   character- 


no  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

izing  parties  by  geographical  discriminations,  Northern 
and  Southern,  Atlantic  and  Western;  whence  designing 
men  may  endeavor  to  excite  a  belief  that  there  is  a  real 
difference  of  local  interests  and  views.  One  of  the  ex- 
pedients of  party  to  acquire  influence,  within  particular 
districts,  is  to  misrepresent  the  opinions  and  aims  of 
other  districts.  You  cannot  shield  yourselves  too  much 
against  the  jealousies  and  heart-burnings  which  spring 
from  these  misrepresentations.  They  tend  to  render 
alien  to  each  other  those  who  ought  to  be  bound  together 
by  fraternal  affection.  The  inhabitants  of  our  western 
country  have  lately  had  a  useful  lesson  on  this  head. 
They  have  seen,  in  the  negotiation  by  the  Executive,  and 
in  the  unanimous  ratification  by  the  Senate,  of  the  6  treaty 
with  Spain,  and  in  the  universal  satisfaction  at  that  event, 
throughout  the  United  States,  a  decisive  proof  how  un- 
founded were  the  suspicious  propagation  among  them  of 
a  policy  in  the  general  government  and  in  the  Atlantic 
States  unfriendly  to  their  interests  in  regard  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi. They  have  been  witnesses  to  the  formation  of  7 
two  treaties,  that  with  Great  Britain,  and  that  with  Spain, 
which  secure  to  them  everything  they  could  desire,  in 
respect  to  our  foreign  relations,  towards  confirming  their 
prosperity.  Will  it  not  be  their  wisdom  to  rely  for  the 
preservation  of  these  advantages  on  the  union  by  which 
they  were  procured?  Will  they  not  henceforth  be  deaf 
to  those  advisers,  if  such  there  are,  who  would  sever 
them  from  their  brethren  and  connect  them  with  aliens? 
To  the  efficacy  and  permanency  of  your  Union,  a  gov- 
ernment for  the  whole  is  indispensable.  No  alliances, 
however  strict,  between  the  parts  can  be  an  adequate 
substitute;  they  must  inevitably  experience  the  infractions 
and  interruptions,  which  all  alliances  in  all  times  have 
experienced.  Sensible  of  this  momentous  truth,  you  have 
improved  upon  your  first  essay,  by  the  adoption  of  a  con- 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    in 


stitution  of  government  better  calculated  than  your 
former  for  an  intimate  Union,  and  for  the  efficacious 
management  of  your  common  concerns.  This  govern- 
ment, the  offspring  of  our  own  choice,  uninfluenced  and 
unawed,  adopted  upon  full  investigation  and  mature  de- 
liberation, completely  free  in  its  principles,  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  its  powers,  uniting  security  with  energy,  and 
containing  within  itself  a  provision  for  its  own  amend- 
ment, has  a  just  claim  to  your  confidence  and  your  sup- 
port. Respect  for  its  authority,  compliance  with  its  laws, 
acquiescence  in  its  measures,  are  duties  enjoined  by  the 
fundamental  maxims  of  true  liberty.  The  basis  of  our 
political  systems  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  make  and 
to  alter  their  constitutions  of  government.  But  the  con- 
stitution which  at  any  time  exists,  till  changed  by  an 
explicit  and  authentic  act  of  the  whole  people,  is  sacredly 
obligatory  upon  all.  The  very  idea  of  the  power  and  the 
right  of  the  people  to  establish  government  presupposes 
the  duty  of  every  individual  to  obey  the  established  gov- 
ernment. 

All  obstructions  to  the  execution  of  the  laws,  all  com- 
binations and  associations,  under  whatever  plausible  char- 
acter, with  the  real  design  to  direct,  control,  counteract, 
or  awe  the  regular  deliberation  and  action  of  the  con- 
stituted authorities,  are  destructive  of  this  fundamental 
principle,  and  of  fatal  tendency.  They  serve  to  organize 
faction,  to  give  it  an  artificial  and  extraordinary  force,  to 
put,  in  the  place  of  the  delegated  will  of  the  nation,  the 
will  of  a  party,  often  a  small  but  artful  and  enterprising 
minority  of  the  community ;  and  according  to  the  alternate 
triumphs  of  different  parties,  to  make  the  public  admin- 
istration the  mirror  of  the  ill-concerted  and  incongruous 
projects  of  faction,  rather  than  the  organ  of  consistent 
and  wholesome  plans  digested  by  common  counsels,  and 
modified  by  mutual  interests. 


ii2  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

However  combinations  or  associations  of  the  above 
descriptions  may  now  and  then  answer  popular  ends,  they 
are  likely,  in  the  course  of  time  and  things,  to  become 
potent  engines,  by  which  cunning,  ambitious,  and  un- 
principled men  will  be  enabled  to  subvert  the  power  of 
the  people,  and  to  usurp  for  themselves  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment; destroying  afterwards  the  very  engines  which 
have  lifted  them  to  unjust  dominion. 

Towards  the  preservation  of  your  government,  and  the 
permanency  of  your  present  happy  state,  it  is  requisite, 
not  only  that  you  steadily  discountenance  irregular  op- 
positions to  its  acknowledged  authority,  but  also  that  you 
resist  with  care  the  spirit  of  innovation  upon  its  princi- 
ples, however  specious  the  pretexts.  One  method  of 
assault  may  be  to  effect  in  the  forms  of  the  constitution 
alterations  which  will  impair  the  energy  of  the  system,  and 
thus  to  undermine  what  cannot  be  directly  overthrown. 
In  all  the  changes  to  which  you  may  be  invited,  remem- 
ber that  time  and  habit  are  at  least  as  necessary  to  fix 
the  true  character  of  governments,  as  of  other  human 
institutions;  that  experience  is  the  surest  standard,  by 
which  to  test  the  real  tendency  of  the  existing  constitu- 
tion of  a  country ;  that  facility  in  changes,  upon  the  credit 
of  mere  hypothesis  and  opinion,  exposes  to  perpetual 
change,  from  the  endless  variety  of  hypothesis  and  opin- 
ion ;  and  remember,  especially,  that,  for  the  efficient  man- 
agement of  your  common  interests,  in  a  country  so  ex- 
tensive as  ours,  a  government  of  as  much  vigor  as  is 
consistent  with  the  perfect  security  of  liberty  is  indis- 
pensable. Liberty  itself  will  find  in  such  a  government, 
with  powers  properly  distributed  and  adjusted,  its  surest 
guardian.  It  is,  indeed,  little  else  than  a  name,  where 
the  government  is  too  feeble  to  withstand  the  enterprise 
of  faction,  to  confine  each  member  of  the  society  within 
the  limits  prescribed  by  the  laws,  and  to  maintain  all  in 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    113 

the  secure  and  tranquil  enjoyment  of  the  rights  of  person 
and  property. 

I  have  already  intimated  to  you  the  danger  of  parties 
in  the  state,  with  particular  reference  to  the  founding  of 
them  on  geographical  discriminations.  Let  me  now  take 
a  more  comprehensive  view,  and  warn  you  in  the  most 
solemn  manner  against  the  baneful  effects  of  the  spirit  of 
party,  generally. 

This  spirit,  unfortunately,  is  inseparable  from  our  na- 
ture, having  its  root  in  the  strongest  passions  of  the  human 
mind.  It  exists  under  different  shapes  in  all  governments, 
more  or  less  stifled,  controlled,  or  repressed ;  but,  in  those 
of  the  popular  form,  it  is  seen  in  its  greatest  rankness, 
and  is  truly  their  worst  enemy. 

The  alternate  domination  of  one  faction  over  another, 
sharpened  by  the  spirit  of  revenge,  natural  to  party  dis- 
sension, which  in  different  ages  and  countries  has  perpe- 
trated 8  the  most  horrid  enormities,  is  itself  a  frightful 
despotism.  But  this  leads  at  length  to  a  more  formal  and 
permanent  despotism.  The  disorders  and  miseries  which 
result  gradually  incline  the  minds  of  men  to  seek  security 
and  repose  in  the  absolute  power  of  an  individual;  and 
sooner  or  later  the  chief  of  some  prevailing  faction,  more 
able  or  more  fortunate  than  his  competitors,  turns  this 
disposition  to  the  purposes  of  his  own  elevation,  on  the 
ruins  of  public  liberty. 

Without  looking  forward  to  an  extremity  of  this  kind 
(which  nevertheless  ought  not  to  be  entirely  out  of 
sight),  the  common  and  continual  mischiefs  of  the  spirit 
of  party  are  sufficient  to  make  it  the  interest  and  duty  of 
a  wise  people  to  discourage  and  restrain  it. 

It  serves  always  to  distract  the  public  councils,  and 
enfeeble  the  public  administration.  It  agitates  the  com- 
munity with  ill-founded  jealousies  and  false  alarms,  kin- 
dles the  animosity  of  one  part  against  another,  foments 


ii4  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

occasionally  riot  and  insurrection.  It  opens  the  door  to 
foreign  influence  and  corruption,  which  find  a  facilitated 
access  to  the  government  itself  through  the  channels  of 
party  passions.  Thus  the  policy  and  the  will  of  one 
country  are  subjected  to  the  policy  and  will  of  another. 

There  is  an  opinion,  that  parties  in  free  countries  are 
useful  checks  upon  the  administration  of  the  government, 
and  serve  to  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  liberty.  This  within 
certain  limits  is  probably  true;  and  in  governments  of  a 
monarchical  cast  patriotism  may  look  with  indulgence,  if 
not  with  favor,  upon  the  spirit  of  party.  But  in  those  of 
the  popular  character,  in  governments  purely  elective,  it 
is  a  spirit  not  to  be  encouraged.  From  their  natural 
tendency  it  is  certain  there  will  always  be  enough  of  that 
spirit  for  every  salutary  purpose.  And,  there  being  con- 
stant danger  of  excess,  the  effort  ought  to  be,  by  force 
of  public  opinion,  to  mitigate  and  assuage  it.  A  fire  not 
to  be  quenched,  it  demands  a  uniform  vigilance  to  pre- 
vent its  bursting  into  a  flame,  lest,  instead  of  warming,  it 
should  consume. 

It  is  important,  likewise,  that  the  habits  of  thinking  in 
a  free  country  should  inspire  caution,  in  those  intrusted 
with  its  administration,  to  confine  themselves  within  their 
respective  constitutional  spheres,  avoiding  in  the  exercise 
of  the  powers  of  one  department  to  encroach  upon  an- 
other. The  spirit  of  encroachment  tends  to  consolidate 
the  powers  of  all  the  departments  in  one,  and  thus  to 
create,  whatever  the  form  of  government,  a  real  despot- 
ism. A  just  estimate  of  that  love  of  power,  and  prone- 
ness  to  abuse  it,  which  predominates  in  the  human  heart, 
is  sufficient  to  satisfy  us  of  the  truth  of  this  position. 
The  necessity  of  reciprocal  checks  in  the  exercise  of 
political  power,  by  dividing  and  distributing  it  into  dif- 
ferent depositories,  and  constituting  each  the  guardian 
of  the  public  weal  against  invasions  by  the  others,   has 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    115 

been  evinced  by  experiments  ancient  and  modern;  some 
of  them  in  our  country  and  under  our  own  eyes.  To 
preserve  them  must  be  as  necessary  as  to  institute  them. 
If,  in  the  opinion  of  the  people,  the  distribution  or  modi- 
fication of  the  constitutional  powers  be  in  any  particular 
wrong,  let  it  be  corrected  by  an  amendment  in  the  way 
which  the  constitution  designates.  But  let  there  be  no 
change  by  usurpation ;  for,  though  this,  in  one  instance, 
may  be  the  instrument  for  good,  it  is  the  customary 
weapon  by  which  free  governments  are  destroyed.  The 
precedent  must  always  greatly  overbalance  in  permanent 
evil  any  partial  or  transient  benefit  which  the  use  can  at 
any  time  yield. 

Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  po- 
litical prosperity,  religion  and  morality  are  indispensable 
supports.  In  vain  would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of 
patriotism  who  should  labor  to  subvert  these  great  pillars 
of  human  happiness,  these  firmest  props  of  the  duties  of 
men  and  citizens.  The  mere  politician,  equally  with  the 
pious  man,  ought  to  respect  and  to  cherish  them.  A 
volume  could  not  trace  all  their  connections  with  private 
and  public  felicity.  Let  it  simply  be  asked,  Where  is 
the  security  for  property,  for  reputation,  for  life,  if  the 
sense  of  religious  obligation  desert  the  oaths,  which  are 
the  instruments  of  investigation  in  courts  of  justice?  And 
let  us  with  caution  indulge  the  supposition  that  morality 
can  be  maintained  without  religion.  Whatever  may  be 
conceded  to  the  influence  of  refined  education  on  minds 
of  peculiar  structure,  reason  and  experience  both  forbid 
us  to  expect  that  national  morality  can  prevail  in  ex- 
clusion of  religious  principle. 

It  is  substantially  true  that  virtue  or  morality  is  a 
necessary  spring  of  popular  government.  The  rule,  in- 
deed, extends  with  more  or  less  force  to  every  species  of 
free  government.     Who,  that  is  a  sincere  friend  to  it, 


n6  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

can  look  with  indifference  upon  attempts  to  shake  the 
foundation  of  the  fabric? 

Promote,  then,  as  an  object  of  primary  importance, 
institutions  for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge.  In 
proportion  as  the  structure  of  a  government  gives  force 
to  public  opinion,  it  is  essential  that  public  opinion  should 
be  enlightened. 

As  a  very  important  source  of  strength  and  security,9 
cherish  public  credit.  One  method  of  preserving  it  is,  to 
use  it  as  sparingly  as  possible;  avoiding  occasions  of  ex- 
pense by  cultivating  peace,  but  remembering  also  that 
timely  disbursements  to  prepare  for  danger  frequently 
prevent  much  greater  disbursements  to  repel  it;  avoiding 
likewise  the  accumulation  of  debt,  not  only  by  shunning 
occasions  of  expense,  but  by  vigorous  exertions  in  time  of 
peace  to  discharge  the  debts,  which  unavoidable  wars  may 
have  occasioned,  not  ungenerously  throwing  upon  pos- 
terity the  burthen,  which  we  ourselves  ought  to  bear. 
The  execution  of  these  maxims  belongs  to  your  repre- 
sentatives, but  it  is  necessary  that  public  opinion  should 
cooperate.  To  facilitate  to  them  the  performance  of  their 
duty,  it  is  essential  that  you  should  practically  bear  in 
mind,  that  towards  the  payment  of  debts  there  must  be 
revenue;  that  to  have  revenue  there  must  be  taxes;  that 
no  taxes  can  be  devised,  which  are  not  more  or  less  incon- 
venient and  unpleasant;  that  the  intrinsic  embarrassment, 
inseparable  from  the  selection  of  the  proper  objects 
(which  is  always  a  choice  of  difficulties),  ought  to  be  a 
decisive  motive  for  a  candid  construction  of  the  conduct 
of  the  government  in  making  it,  and  for  a  spirit  of  ac- 
quiescence in  the  measures  for  obtaining  revenue,  which 
the  public  exigencies  may  at  any  time  dictate. 
)jr  Observe  good  faith  and  justice  towards  all  nations; 
cultivate   peace   and    harmony   with    all.      Religion    and 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    117 

morality  enjoin  this  conduct;  and  can  it  be  that  good 
policy  does  not  equally  enjoin  it?  It  will  be  worthy  of 
a  free,  enlightened,  and,  at  no  distant  period,  a  great 
nation,  to  give  to  mankind  the  magnanimous  and  too 
novel  example  of  a  people  always  guided  by  an  exalted 
justice  and  benevolence.  Who  can  doubt  that,  in  the 
course  of  time  and  things,  the  fruits  of  such  a  plan  would 
richly  repay  any  temporary  advantages  which  might  be 
lost  by  a  steady  adherence  to  it?  Can  it  be  that  Provi- 
dence has  not  connected  the  permanent  felicity  of  a 
nation  with  its  virtue?  The  experiment,  at  least,  is 
recommended  by  every  sentiment  which  ennobles  human 
nature.     Alas!  is  it  rendered  impossible  by  its  vices? 

In  the  execution  of  such  a  plan,  nothing  is  more  essen- 
tial than  that  permanent10  inveterate  antipathies  against 
particular  nations,  and  passionate  attachment  for  others, 
should  be  excluded;  and  that,  in  place  of  them,  just  and 
amicable  feelings  towards  all  should  be  cultivated.  The 
nation  which  indulges  towards  another  an  habitual  ha- 
tred, or  an  habitual  fondness,  is  in  some  degree  a  slave. 
It  is  a  slave  to  its  animosity  or  to  its  affection,  either  of 
which  is  sufficient  to  lead  it  astray  from  its  duty  and 
its  interest.  Antipathy  in  one  nation  against  another 
disposes  each  more  readily  to  offer  insult  and, injury,  to 
lay  hold  of  slight  causes  of  umbrage,  and  to  be  haughty 
and  intractable,  when  accidental  or  trifling  occasions  of 
dispute  occur.  Hence  frequent  collisions,  obstinate,  en- 
venomed, and  bloody  contests.  The  nation,  prompted  by 
ill-will  and  resentment,  sometimes  impels  to  war  the  gov- 
ernment, contrary  to  the  best  calculations  of  policy.  The 
government  sometimes  participates  in  the  national  pro- 
pensity, and  adopts  through  passion  what  reason  would 
reject;  at  other  times,  it  makes  the  animosity  of  the 
nation  subservient  to  projects  of  hostility  instigated  by 


n8  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

pride,  ambition,  and  other  sinister  and  pernicious  motives. 
The  peace  often,  sometimes  perhaps  the  liberty,  of  na- 
tions has  been  the  victim. 

So  likewise,  a  passionate  attachment  of  one  nation  for 
another  produces  a  variety  of  evils.  Sympathy  for  the 
favorite  nation,  facilitating  the  illusion  of  an  imaginary 
common  interest,  in  cases  where  no  real  common  interest 
exists,  and  infusing  into  one  the  enmities  of  the  other, 
betrays  the  former  into  a  participation  in  the  quarrels 
and  wars  of  the  latter,  without  adequate  inducement  or 
justification.  It  leads  also  to  concessions  to  the  favorite 
nation  of  privileges  denied  to  others,  which  is  apt  doubly 
to  injure  the  nation  making  the  concessions;  by  unneces- 
sarily parting  with  what  ought  to  have  been  retained; 
and  by  exciting  jealousy,  ill-will,  and  a  disposition  to 
retaliate,  in  the  parties  from  whom  equal  privileges  are 
withheld.  And  it  gives  to  ambitious,  corrupted,  or  de- 
luded citizens  (who  devote  themselves  to  the  favorite 
nation)  facility  to  betray  or  sacrifice  the  interests  of  their 
own  country,  without  odium,  sometimes  even  with  popu- 
larity; gilding,  with  the  appearances  of  a  virtuous  sense 
of  obligation,  a  commendable  deference  for  public  opinion, 
or  a  laudable  zeal  for  public  good,  the  base  of  foolish 
compliances  of  ambition,  corruption,  or  infatuation. 

As  avenues  to  foreign  influence  in  innumerable  ways, 
such  attachments  are  particularly  alarming  to  the  truly 
enlightened  and  independent  patriot.  How  many  oppor- 
tunities do  they  afford  to  tamper  with  domestic  factions, 
to  practice  the  arts  of  seduction,  to  mislead  public  opin- 
ion, to  influence  or  awe  the  public  councils!  Such  an 
attachment  of  a  small  or  weak  towards  a  great  and  pow- 
erful nation  dooms  the  former  to  be  the  satellite  of  the 
latter. 

Against  the  insidious  wiles  of  foreign  influence  ( I  con- 
jure you  to  believe  me,  fellow  citizens)   the  jealousy  of 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    119 

a  free  people  ought  to  be  constantly  awake;  since  history 
and  experience  prove  that  foreign  influence  is  one  of  the 
most  baneful  foes  of  Republican  government.  But  that 
jealousy,  to  be  useful,  must  be  impartial;  else  it  becomes 
the  instrument  of  the  very  influence  to  be  avoided,  instead 
of  a  defense  against  it.  Excessive  partiality  for  one 
foreign  nation,  and  excessive  dislike  of  another,  cause 
those  whom  they  actuate  to  see  danger  only  on  one  side 
and  serve  to  veil  and  even  second  the  arts  of  influence  on 
the  other.  Real  patriots,  who  may  resist  the  intrigues  of 
the  favorite,  are  liable  to  become  suspected  and  odious; 
while  its  tools  and  dupes  usurp  the  applause  and  con- 
fidence of  the  people,  to  surrender  their  interests. 

The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us,  in  regard  to  foreign 
nations,  is,  in  extending  our  commercial  relations,  to  have 
with  them  as  little  political  connection  as  possible.  So 
far  as  we  have  already  formed  engagements,  let  them  be 
fulfilled  with  perfect  good  faith.  Here  let  us  stop. 
\L  Europe  has  a  set  of  primary  interests,  which  to  us 
I  have  none,  or  a  very  remote  relation.  Hence  she  must  be 
engaged  in  frequent  controversies,  the  causes  of  which  are 
essentially  foreign  to  our  concerns.  Hence,  therefore,  it 
must  be  unwise  in  us  to  implicate  ourselves,  by  artificial 
ties,  in  the  ordinary  vicissitudes  of  her  politics,  or  the 
ordinary  combinations  and  collisions  of  her  friendships  or 
enmities. 

Our  detached  and  distant  situation  invites  and  enables 
us  to  pursue  a  different  course^A  If  we  remain  one  people, 
under  an  efficient  government,  the  period  is  not  far  off, 
when  we  may  defy  material  injury  from  external  annoy- 
ance; when  we  may  take  such  an  attitude  as  will  cause 
the  neutrality,  we  may  at  any  time  resolve  upon,  to  be 
scrupulously  respected;  when  belligerent  nations,  under 
the  impossibility  of  making  acquisitions  upon  us,  will  not 
lightly  hazard  the  giving  us  provocation;  when  we  may 


120  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

choose  peace  or  war,  as  our  interest,  guided  by  justice, 
shall  counsel. 

Why  forego  the  advantages  of  so  peculiar  a  situation? 
Why  quit  our  own  to  stand  upon  foreign  ground  ?  Why, 
by  interweaving  our  destiny  with  that  of  any  part  of 
Europe,  entangle  our  peace  and  prosperity  in  the  toils 
of  European  ambition,  rivalship,  interest,  humor,  or 
^-—caprice  ? 

X  It  is  our  true  policy  to  steer  clear  of  permanent  alli- 
ances with  any  portion  of  the  foreign  world;  so  far,  I 
mean,  as  we  are  now  at  liberty  to  do  it;  for  let  me  not 
be  understood  as  capable  of  patronizing  infidelity  to 
existing  engagements.  I  hold  the  maxim  no  less  applica- 
ble to  public  than  to  private  affairs,  that  honesty  is  always 
the  best  policy.  I  repeat  it,  therefore,  let  those  engage- 
ments be  observed  in  their  genuine  senses.  But,  in  my 
opinion,  it  is  unnecessary  and  would  be  unwise  to  extend 
them. 

Taking  care  always  to  keep  ourselves,  by  suitable  estab- 
lishments, on  a  respectable  defensive  posture,  we  may 
safely  trust  to  temporary  alliances  for  extraordinary 
emergencies. 

X  Harmony,  liberal  intercourse  with  all  nations,  are 
recommended  by  policy,  humanity,  and  interest.  But 
even  our  commercial  policy  should  hold  an  equal  and 
impartial  hand;  neither  seeking  nor  granting  exclusive 
favors  or  preferences;  consulting  the  natural  course  of 
things;  diffusing  and  diversifying  by  gentle  means  the 
streams  of  commerce,  but  forcing  nothing;  establishing, 
with  powers  so  disposed,  in  order  to  give  trade  a  stable 
course,  to  define  the  rights  of  our  merchants,  and  to 
enable  the  government  to  support  them,  conventional 
rules  of  intercourse,  the  best  that  present  circumstances 
and  mutual  opinion  will  permit,  but  temporary,  and  lia- 
ble to  be   from   time  to  time   abandoned  or  varied,    as 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    121 

experience  and  circumstances  shall  dictate;  constantly 
keeping  in  view  that  it  is  folly  in  one  nation  to  look  for 
disinterested  favors  from  another;  that  it  must  pay  with 
a  portion  of  its  independence  for  whatever  it  may  accept 
under  that  character,  that,  by  such  acceptance,  it  may 
place  itself  in  the  condition  of  having  given  equivalents 
for  nominal  favors,  and  yet  of  being  reproached  with 
ingratitude  for  not  giving  more.  There  can  be  no 
greater  error  than  to  expect  or  calculate  upon  real  favors 
from  nation  to  nation.  It  is  an  illusion,  which  experi- 
ence must  cure,  which  a  just  pride  ought  to  discard. 

In  offering  to  you,  my  countrymen,  these  counsels  of 
an  old  and  affectionate  friend,  I  dare  not  hope  they  will 
make  the  strong  and  lasting  impression  I  could  wish ;  that 
they  will  control  the  usual  current  of  the  passions,  or 
prevent  our  nation  from  running  the  course,  which  has 
hitherto  marked  the  destiny  of  nations.  But,  if  I  may 
even  flatter  myself,  that  they  may  be  productive  of  some 
partial  benefit,  some  occasional  good;  that  they  may  now 
and  then  recur  to  moderate  the  fury  of  party  spirit,  to 
warn  against  the  mischiefs  of  foreign  intrigue,  to  guard 
against  the  impostures  of  pretended  patriotism;  this  hope 
will  be  a  full  recompense  for  the  solicitude  for  your  wel- 
fare, by  which  they  have  been  dictated. 

How  far  in  the  discharge  of  my  official  duties,  I  have 
been  guided  by  the  principles  which  have  been  delineated, 
the  public  records  and  other  evidences  of  my  conduct 
must  witness  to  you  and  to  the  world.  To  myself,  the 
assurance  of  my  own  conscience  is,  that  I  have  at  least 
believed  myself  to  be  guided  by  them.X 

In  relating  to  the  still  subsisting  war  in  Europe,11  my 
proclamation  of  the  22d  of  April,  1793,  is  the  index  to 
my  plan.  Sanctioned  by  your  approving  voice,  and  by 
that  of  your  representatives  in  both  Houses  of  Congress, 
the  spirit  of  that  measure  has  continually  governed  me, 


122  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

uninfluenced  by  any  attempts  to  deter  or  divert  me  from 
it. 

After  deliberate  examination,  with  the  aid  of  the  best 
lights  I  could  obtain,  I  was  well  satisfied  that  our  country, 
under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  had  a  right  to 
take,  and  was  bound  in  duty  and  interest  to  take,  a  neu- 
tral position.  Having  taken  it,  I  determined,  as  far  as 
should  depend  upon  me,  to  maintain  it,  with  moderation, 
perseverance,  and  firmness. 

The  considerations,  which  respect  the  right  to  hold  this 
conduct,  it  is  not  necessary  on  this  occasion  to  detail.  I 
will  only  observe,  that,  according  to  my  understanding  of 
the  matter,  that  right,  so  far  from  being  denied  by  any  of 
the  belligerent  powers,  has  been  virtually  admitted  by  all. 

The  duty  of  holding  a  neutral  conduct  may  be  inferred, 
without  any  thing  more,  from  the  obligation  which  jus- 
tice and  humanity  impose  on  every  nation,  in  cases  in 
which  it  is  free  to  act,  to  maintain  inviolate  the  relations 
of  peace  and  amity  towards  other  nations. 

The  inducements  of  interest  for  observing  that  con- 
duct will  best  be  referred  to  your  own  reflections  and 
experience.  With  me,  a  predominant  motive  has  been 
to  endeavor  to  gain  time  to  our  country  to  settle  and 
mature  its  yet  recent  institutions,  and  to  progress  without 
interruption  to  that  degree  of  strength  and  consistency 
which  is  necessary  to  give  it,  humanly  speaking,  the  com- 
mand of  its  own  fortunes. 

Though,  in  reviewing  the  incidents  of  my  administra- 
tion, I  am  unconscious  of  intentional  error,  I  am  never- 
theless too  sensible  of  my  defects  not  to  think  it  probable 
that  I  may  have  committed  many  errors.  Whatever  they 
may  be,  I  fervently  beseech  the  Almighty  to  avert  or 
mitigate  the  evils  to  which  they  may  tend.  I  shall  also 
carry  with  me  the  hope  that  my  country  will  never  cease 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS    123 

to  view  them  with  indulgence;  and  that,  after  forty-five 
years  of  my  life  dedicated  to  its  service  with  an  upright 
zeal,  the  faults  of  incompetent  abilities  will  be  consigned 
to  oblivion,  as  myself  must  soon  be  to  the  mansions  of 
rest. 

Relying  on  its  kindness  in  this  as  in  other  things,  and 
actuated  by  that  fervent  love  towards  it  which  is  so 
natural  to  a  man  who  views  in  it  the  native  soil  of  him- 
self and  his  progenitors  for  several  generations,  I  antici- 
pate with  pleasing  expectation  that  retreat,  in  which  I 
promise  myself  to  realize,  without  alloy,  the  sweet  enjoy- 
ment of  partaking,  in  the  midst  of  my  fellow-citizens, 
the  benign  influence  of  good  laws  under  a  free  govern- 
ment, the  ever  favorite  object  of  my  heart,  and  the  happy 
reward,  as  I  trust,  of  our  mutual  cares,  labors,  and 
dangers. 

Nearly  two  thousand  amendments  to  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  have  been  formally  proposed.  Those  that  have 
been  adopted  have  in  the  main  supported  what  policy  of 
Washington's? 

Were  any  of  Washington's  fears  of  the  fury  of  party  spirit 
ever  realized  in  America? 

What  do  you  suppose  would  be  Washington's  attitude  to- 
ward party  government  such  as  exists  in  the  United  States 
to-day? 

What  circumstances  make  Washington's  policy  of  national 
isolation  less  practicable  to-day  than  in   1796? 

Is  there  in  the  Farewell  Address  any  statement  of  policy  that 
would  justify  our  participation  in  the  World  War? 

What  is  Washington's  attitude  toward  military  prepared- 
ness? 

Can  you  find  in  Washington's  life  or  policy  any  reason  for 
believing  that   he  would   favor  disarmament  to-day? 

What  differences  in  style  do  you  find  as  you  compare  this 
address  with  Patrick  Henry's  speech?  Glance  at  Beecher's 
Speech  at  Liverpool  and  make  a  comparison. 

Do   you   believe   this   speech  would   have   at  once   created   a 


124  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

favorable  impression  if  Washington  had  delivered  it  orally  be- 
fore Congress? 

What  elements  of  persuasion,  as  distinguished  from  common 
sense  and  argument,  do  you  find  in  this  address? 

What  reason  is  there  for  calling  Washington  "  The  Father 
of  his  Country"? 


WEBSTER'S  FIRST  BUNKER  HILL  ADDRESS 
June  17,  1825 

There  came  to  the  United  States  of  America  in  181 5 
a  remarkable  period  of  peace  and  prosperity.  The 
War  for  Independence  had  been  carried  to  a  success- 
ful conclusion  and  the  thirteen  original  states  under 
enlarged  Federal  authority  had  been  drawn  into  a 
well-organized  union.  Minor  difficulties  with  France 
or  England  had  been  removed  through  war  or  diplo- 
macy. At  this  happy  time,  state  after  state  was  added 
to  the  Union.  In  territory,  in  population,  in  wealth, 
in  education,  unexampled  progress  was  made.  It  was 
a  period  when  undisturbed  by  rumors  of  war,  for  the 
anti-slavery  contest  had  not  yet  become  critical,  Amer- 
icans turned  again  at  theijMeisure,  as  in  the  colonial 
days,  to  consider  the  fundamental  principles  of  gov- 
ernment and  sought  to  shape  anew  their  expanding 
political  ideals. 

It  was  fitting,  therefore,  that  when  a  vast  assem- 
blage of  Americans  met  at  Bunker  Hill  on  June  17, 
1825,  to  lay  the  corner  stone  of  a  monument  com- 
memorating the  heroic  deeds  of  the  men  of  1776,  that 
Daniel  Webster,  the  orator  of  the  day,  should  use  the 
occasion  to  inspire  his  countrymen  with  the  spirit  of 
true  patriotism.  He  reminded  his  hearers  of  the  power 
of  public  opinion  to  make  right  supreme  over  might, 
and  he  urged  them  to  emulate  the  example  of  their 
forefathers,  that  the  young  and  growing  nation — "  the 

125 


126  BUNKER  HILL  ADDRESS 

last  hope  of  mankind  " — might  have  a  beneficent  effect 
on  the  progress  of  the  world. 

This  oration  is  the  finest  example  of  commemorative 
address,  ancient  or  modern,  that  the  world  has  seen. 
It  was  not  a  speech,  that  in  a  dramatic  crisis  moved 
men  to  perform  an  act  or  make  a  decision  that  would 
turn  the  course  of  history  to  a  new  direction;  but  not 
on  that  account  should  its  influence  be  belittled.  It 
helped  to  shape  American  ideals.  It  formulated  and 
made  dynamic  the  first  fifty  years  of  American  history, 
and  recorded  for  all  time  some  of  the  dearly-purchased 
principles  of  democracy. 

The  occasion  in  itself  was  most  impressive.  It 
was  a  mild  June  morning.  Rain  the  previous  day 
had  brought  to  trees  and  grass  their  brightest  green. 
Overhead  was  a  sky  almost  cloudless ;  and  in  the  dis- 
tance shimmered  the  blue  harbor,  the  scene  of  the 
Boston  Tea  Party.  The  great  audience  was  gathered 
on  the  very  eminence  where  the  Battle  of  Bunker 
Hill  had  been  fought.  At  the  left  was  marked  the 
spot  where  Warren  fell.  On  the  platform  beside 
Webster  was  Lafayette,  most  beloved  among  the  dis- 
tinguished foreigners  who  had  come  to  America  dur- 
ing the  Revolution  to  serve  in  the  cause  of  freedom. 
Nearby  were  forty  survivors  of  the  battle,  some  of 
them  dressed  in  their  old  uniforms — men  who  were 
now  aged  and  feeble. 

When  the  orator  arose  to  speak  the  vast  assemblage 
was  silent  with  reverent  attention.  Never  was  occa- 
sion more  fit  for  a  great  commemorative  address. 


BUNKER  HILL  ADDRESS  127 


ORATION   ON  THE   LAYING  OF  THE   COR- 
NERSTONE OF  THE  BUNKER  HILL 
MONUMENT 

Daniel    Webster 

This  uncounted  multitude  before  me  and  around  me 
proves  the  feeling  which  the  occasion  has  excited.  These 
thousands  of  human  faces,  glowing  with  sympathy  and 
joy,  and  from  the  impulses  of  a  common  gratitude  turned 
reverently  to  heaven  in  this  spacious  temple  of  the  firma- 
ment, proclaim  that  the  day,  the  place,  and  the  purpose 
of  our  assembling  have  made  a  deep  impression  on  our 
hearts. 

If,  indeed,  there  be  anything  in  local  association  fit 
to  affect  the  mind  of  man,  we  need  not  strive  to  repress 
the  emotions  which  agitate  us  here.  We  are  among  the 
sepulchres  of  our  fathers.  We  are  on  ground,  distin- 
guished by  their  valor,  their  constancy,  and  the  shedding 
of  their  blood.  We  are  here,  not  to  fix  an  uncertain  date 
in  our  annals,  nor  draw  into  notice  an  obscure  and  un- 
known spot.  If  our  humble  purpose  had  never  been  con- 
ceived, if  we  ourselves  had  never  been  born,  the  17th  of 
June,  1775,  would  have  been  a  day  on  which  all  subse- 
quent history  would  have  poured  its  light,  and  the  emi- 
nence where  we  stand  a  point  of  attraction  to  the  eyes 
of  successive  generations.  But  we  are  Americans.  We 
live  in  what  may  be  called  the  early  age  of  this  great 
Continent;  and  we  know  that  our  posterity,  through  all 
time,  are  here  to  enjoy  and  suffer  the  allotments  of  hu- 
manity. We  see  before  us  a  probable  train  of  great 
events ;  we  know  that  our  own  fortunes  have  been  happily 
cast ;  and  it  is  natural,  therefore,  that  we  should  be  moved 
by  the  contemplation  of  occurrences  which  have  guided 


128  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

our  destiny  before  many  of  us  were  born,  and  settled  tbe 
condition  in  which  we  should  pass  that  portion  of  our 
existence  which  God  allows  to  men  on  earth. 

We  do  not  read  even  of  the  discovery  of  this  continent, 
without  feeling  something  of  a  personal  interest  in  the 
event;  without  being  reminded  how  much  it  has  affected 
our  own  fortunes  and  our  own  existence.  It  would  be 
still  more  unnatural  for  us,  therefore,  than  for  others,  to 
contemplate  with  unaffected  minds  that  interesting,  I  may 
say  that  most  touching  and  pathetic  scene,  when  the  great 
discoverer  of  America  stood  on  the  deck  of  his  shattered 
bark,  the  shades  of  night  falling  on  the  sea,  yet  no  man 
sleeping;  tossed  on  the  billows  of  an  unknown  ocean,  yet 
the  stronger  billows  of  alternate  hope  and  despair  tossing 
his  own  troubled  thoughts;  extending  forward  his 
harassed  frame,  straining  westward  his  anxious  and  eager 
eyes,  till  Heaven  at  last  granted  him  a  moment  of  rapture 
and  ecstacy,  in  blessing  his  vision  with  the  sight  of  the 
unknown  wTorld. 

Nearer  to  our  times,  more  closely  connected  with  our 
fates,  and  therefore  still  more  interesting  to  our  feelings 
and  affections,  is  the  settlement  of  our  own  country  by 
colonists  from  England.  We  cherish  every  memorial  of 
these  worthy  ancestors;  we  celebrate  their  patience  and 
fortitude;  we  admire  their  daring  enterprise;  we  teach 
our  children  to  venerate  their  piety;  and  we  are  justly 
proud  of  being  descended  from  men  who  have  set  the 
world  an  example  of  founding  civil  institutions  on  the 
great  and  united  principles  of  human  freedom  and  human 
knowledge.  To  us,  their  children,  the  story  of  their 
labors  and  sufferings  can  never  be  without  its  interest. 
We  shall  not  stand  unmoved  on  the  shore  of  Plymouth, 
while  the  sea  continues  to  wash  it;  nor  will  our  brethren 
in  another  early  and  ancient  colony1  forget  the  place  of 
its  first  establishment,  till  their  river  shall  cease  to  flow 


BUNKER  HILL  ADDRESS  129 

by  it.  No  vigor  of  youth,  no  maturity  of  manhood,  will 
lead  the  nation  to  forget  the  spots  where  its  infancy  was 
cradled  and  defended. 

But  the  great  event  in  the  history  of  the  continent, 
which  we  are  now  met  here  to  commemorate,  that  prodigy 
of  modern  times,  at  once  the  wonder  and  the  blessing  of 
the  world,  is  the  American  Revolution.  In  a  day  of 
extraordinary  prosperity  and  happiness,  of  high  national 
honor,  distinction,  and  power,  we  are  brought  together 
in  this  place  by  our  love  of  country,  by  our  admiration 
of  exalted  character,  by  our  gratitude  for  signal  services 
and  patriotic  devotion. 

The  Society  whose  organ  I  am2  was  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  rearing  some  honorable  and  durable  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  the  early  friends  of  American 
Independence.  They  have  thought,  that  for  this  object 
no  time  could  be  more  propitious  than  the  present  pros- 
perous and  peaceful  period;  that  no  place  could  claim 
preference  over  this  memorable  spot;  and  that  no  day 
could  be  more  auspicious  to  the  undertaking,  than  the 
anniversary  of  the  battle  which  was  here  fought.  The 
foundation  of  that  monument 3  we  have  now  laid.  With 
solemnities  suited  to  the  occasion,  with  prayers  to  Al- 
mighty God  for  His  blessing,  and  in  the  midst  of  this 
cloud  of  witnesses,  we  have  begun  the  work.  We  trust 
it  will  be  prosecuted,  and  that,  springing  from  a  broad 
foundation,  rising  high  in  massive  solidity  and  unadorned 
grandeur,  it  may  remain  as  long  as  Heaven  permits  the 
works  of  man  to  last,  a  fit  emblem,  both  of  the  events  in 
memory  of  which  it  is  raised,  and  of  the  gratitude  of  those 
who  have  reared  it. 

We  know,  indeed,  that  the  record  of  illustrious  actions 
is  most  safely  deposited  in  the  universal  remembrance  of 
mankind.  We  know,  that  if  we  could  cause  this  structure 
to  ascend,  not  only  till  it  reached   the  skies,  but  till  it 


130  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

pierced  them,  its  broad  surfaces  could  still  contain  but 
part  of  that  which,  in  an  age  of  knowledge,  hath  already 
been  spread  over  the  earth,  and  which  history  charges 
itself  with  making  known  to  all  future  times.  We  know 
that  no  inscription  on  entablatures  less  broad  than  the 
earth  itself  can  carry  information  of  the  events  we  com- 
memorate where  it  has  not  already  gone;  and  that  no 
structure,  which  shall  not  outlive  the  duration  of  letters 
and  knowledge  among  men,  can  prolong  the  memorial. 
But  our  object  is,  by  this  edifice,  to  show  our  own  deep 
sense  of  the  value  and  importance  of  the  achievements  of  - 
our  ancestors;  and,  by  presenting  this  work  of  gratitude 
to  the  eye,  to  keep  alive  similar  sentiments,  and  to  foster 
a  constant  regard  for  the  principles  of  the  Revolution. 
Human  beings  are  composed,  not  of  reason  only,  but  of 
imagination  also,  and  sentiment;  and  that  is  neither 
wasted  nor  misapplied  which  is  appropriated  to  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  right  direction  to  sentiments,  and  opening 
proper  springs  of  feeling  in  the  heart.  Let  it  not  be  sup- 
posed that  our  object  is  to  perpetuate  national  hostility, 
or  even  to  cherish  a  mere  military  spirit.  It  is  higher, 
purer,  nobler.  We  consecrate  our  work  to  the  spirit  of 
national  independence,  and  we  wish  that  the  light  of 
peace  may  rest  upon  it  forever.  We  rear  a  memorial  of 
our  conviction  of  that  unmeasured  benefit  which  has  been 
conferred  on  our  land,  and  of  the  happy  influences  which 
have  been  produced,  by  the  same  events,  on  the  general 
interests  of  mankind.  We  come,  as  Americans,  to  mark 
a  spot  which  must  forever  be  dear  to  us  and  our  posterity. 
We  wish  that  whosoever,  in  all  coming  time,  shall  turn 
his  eye  hither,  may  behold  that  the  place  is  not  indis- 
tinguished  where  the  first  great  battle  of  the  Revolution 
was  fought.  We  wish  that  this  structure  may  proclaim 
the  magnitude  and  importance  of  that  event  to  every  class 
and  every  age.     We  wish  that  infancy  may  learn   the 


BUNKER  HILL  ADDRESS  131 

purpose  of  its  erection  from  maternal  lips,  and  that  weary 
and  withered  age  may  behold  it,  and  be  solaced  by  the 
recollections  which  it  suggests.  We  wish  that  labor  may 
look  up  here,  and  be  proud,  in  the  midst  of  its  toil.  We 
wish  that,  in  those  days  of  disaster,  which,  as  they  come 
upon  all  nations,  must  be  expected  to  come  upon  us  also, 
desponding  patriotism  may  turn  its  eyes  hitherward,  and 
be  assured  that  the  foundations  of  our  national  power  are 
still  strong.  We  wish  that  this  column,  rising  toward 
heaven  among  the  pointed  spires  of  so  many  temples  dedi- 
'  cated  to  God,  may  contribute  also  to  produce  in  all  minds, 
a  pious  feeling  of  dependence  and  gratitude.  We  wish, 
finally,  that  the  last  object  to  the  sight  of  him  who  leaves 
his  native  shore,  and  the  first  to  gladden  his  who  revisits 
it,  may  be  something  which  shall  remind  him  of  the  lib- 
erty and  the  glory  of  his  country.  Let  it  rise!  let  it  rise, 
till  it  meet  the  sun  in  his  coming;  let  the  earliest  light  of 
the  morning  gild  it,  and  parting  day  linger  and  play  on  its 
summit. 

We  still  have  among  us  some  of  those  who  were  active 
agents  in  the  scenes  of  1775,  and  who  are  now  here  from 
every  quarter  of  New  England,  to  visit  once  more,  and 
under  circumstances  so  affecting,  I  had  almost  said  so 
overwhelming,  this  renowned  theatre  of  their  courage  and 
patriotism. 
^C<  Venerable  men!4  you  have  come  down  to  us  from  a 
former  generation.  Heaven  has  bounteously  lengthened 
out  your  lives,  that  you  might  behold  this  joyous  day. 
You  are  now  where  you  stood  fifty  years  ago,  this  very 
hour,  with  your  brothers  and  your  neighbors,  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  in  the  strife  for  your  country.  Behold,  how 
altered !  The  same  heavens  are  indeed  over  our  heads ;  the 
same  ocean  rolls  at  your  feet;  but  all  else  how  changed! 
You  hear  now  no  roar  of  hostile  cannon,  you  see  no  mixed 
volumes  of  smoke  and  flame  rising  from  burning  Charles- 


132  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

town.  The  ground  strewed  with  the  dead  and  dying; 
the  impetuous  charge;  the  steady  and  successful  repulse; 
the  loud  call  to  repeated  assault;  the  summoning  of  all 
that  is  manly  to  repeated  resistance;  a  thousand  bosoms 
freely  and  fearlessly  bared  in  an  instant  to  whatever  of 
terror  there  may  be  in  war  and  death; — all  these  you 
have  witnessed,  but  you  witness  them  no  more.  All  is 
peace.  The  heights  of  yonder  metropolis,  its  towers  and 
roofs,  which  you  then  saw  filled  with  wives  and  children 
and  countrymen  in  distress  and  terror,  and  looking  with 
unutterable  emotions  for  the  issue  of  the  combat,  have 
presented  you  to-day  with  the  sight  of  its  whole  happy 
population,  come  out  to  welcome  and  greet  you  with  a 
universal  jubilee.  Yonder  proud  ships,  by  a  felicity  of 
position  appropriately  lying  at  the  foot  of  this  mount,  and 
seeming  fondly  to  cling  around  it,  are  not  means  of  an- 
noyance to  you,  but  your  country's  own  means  of  distinc- 
tion and  defense.  All  is  peace;  and  God  has  granted  you 
this  sight  of  your  country's  happiness,  ere  you  slumber  in 
the  grave.  He  has  allowed  you  to  behold  and  to  partake 
the  reward  of  your  patriotic  toils;  and  He  has  allowed 
us,  your  sons  and  countrymen,  to  meet  you  here,  and  in 
the  name  of  the  present  generation,  in  the  name  of  your 
country,  in  the  name  of  liberty,  to  thank  you! 

The  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  attended  with  the  most 
important  effects  beyond  its  immediate  results  as  a  mili- 
tary engagement.  It  created  at  once  a  state  of  open, 
public  war.  There  could  now  be  no  longer  a  question  of 
proceeding  against  individuals,  as  guilty  of  treason  or 
rebellion.  That  fearful  crisis  was  past.  The  appeal  lay 
to  the  sword,  and  the  only  question  was,  whether  the 
spirit  and  the  resources  of  the  people  would  hold  out  till 
the  object  should  be  accomplished.  Nor  were  its  general 
consequences  confined  to  our  own  country.  The  previous 
proceedings  of  the  colonies,  their  appeals,  resolutions,  and 


BUNKER  HILL  ADDRESS  133 

addresses,  had  made  their  cause  known  to  Europe.  With- 
out boasting,  we  may  say,  that  in  no  age  or  country  has 
the  public  cause  been  maintained  with  more  force  of 
argument,  more  power  of  illustration,  or  more  of  that 
persuasion  which  excited  feeling  and  elevated  principle 
can  alone  bestow,  than  the  Revolutionary  state  papers 
exhibit.  These  papers  will  forever  deserve  to  be  studied 
not  only  for  the  spirit  which  they  breathe,  but  for  the 
ability  with  which  they  were  written. 

To  this  able  vindication  of  their  cause,  the  colonies 
had  now  added  a  practical  and  severe  proof  of  their  own 
true  devotion  to  it,  and  given  evidence  also  of  the  power 
which  they  could  bring  to  its  support.  All  now  saw,  that 
if  America  fell,  she  would  not  fall  without  a  struggle. 
Men  felt  sympathy  and  regard,  as  well  as  surprise,  when 
they  beheld  these  infant  states,  remote,  unknown,  unaided, 
encounter  the  power  of  England,  and,  in  the  first  con- 
siderable battle,  leave  more  of  their  enemies  dead  on 
the  field,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  combatants, 
than  had  been  recently  known  to  fall  in  the  wars  of 
Europe. 

Information  of  these  events,  circulating  throughout  the 
world,  at  length  reached  the  ears  of  one  who  now  hears 
me.5  He  has  not  forgotten  the  emotion  which  the  fame 
of  Bunker  Hill,  and  the  name  of  Warren,  excited  in  his 
youthful  breast. 

Sir,  we  are  assembled  to  commemorate  the  establish- 
ment of  great  public  principles  of  liberty,  and  to  do  honor 
to  the  distinguished  dead.  The  occasion  is  too  severe  for 
eulogy  of  the  living.  But,  Sir,  your  interesting  relation 
to  this  country,  the  peculiar  circumstances  which  sur- 
round you  and  surround  us,  call  on  me  to  express  the 
happiness  which  we  derive  from  your  presence  and  aid  in 
this  solemn  commemoration. 

Fortunate,    fortunate  man!     With  what  measure  of 


134  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

devotion  will  you  not  thank  God  for  the  circumstances 
of  your  extraordinary  life !  You  are  connected  with  both 
hemispheres  and  with  two  generations.  Heaven  saw  fit 
to  ordain,  that  the  electric  spark  of  liberty  should  be  con- 
ducted, through  you,  from  the  New  World  to  the  Old; 
and  we,  who  are  now  here  to  perform  this  duty  of  pa- 
triotism, have  all  of  us  long  ago  received  it  in  charge 
from  our  fathers  to  cherish  your  name  and  your  virtues. 
You  will  account  it  an  instance  of  your  good  fortune,  Sir, 
that  you  crossed  the  seas  to  visit  us  at  a  time  which 
enables  you  to  be  present  at  this  solemnity.  You  now 
behold  the  field,  the  renown  of  which  reached  you  in  the 
heart  of  France,  and  caused  a  thrill  in  your  ardent  bosom. 
You  see  the  lines  of  the  little  redoubt  thrown  up  by  the 
incredible  diligence  of  Prescott;  defended  to  the  last 
extremity  by  his  lion-hearted  valor;  and  within  which  the 
corner-stone  of  our  monument  has  now  taken  its  posi- 
tion. You  see  where  Warren  fell,  and  where  Parker, 
Gardner,  McCleary,  Moore,  and  other  early  patriots  fell 
with  him.  Those  who  survived  that  day,  and  whose  lives 
have  been  prolonged  to  the  present  hour,  are  now  around 
you.  Some  of  them  you  have  known  in  the  trying  scenes 
of  the  war.  Behold!  they  now  stretch  forth  their  feeble 
arms  and  embrace  you.  Behold !  they  raise  their  trembling 
voices  to  invoke  the  blessing  of  God  on  you  and  yours 
forever. 

Sir,  you  have  assisted  us  in  laying  the  foundation  of 
this  structure.  You  have  heard  us  rehearse,  with  our 
feeble  commendation,  the  names  of  departed  patriots. 
Monuments  and  eulogy  belong  to  the  dead.  We  give 
them  this  day  to  Warren  and  his  associates.  On  other 
occasions  they  have  been  given  to  your  more  immediate 
companions  in  arms,  to  Washington,  to  Greene,  to  Gates, 
to  Sullivan,  and  to  Lincoln.  We  have  become  reluctant 
to  grant  these,  our  highest  and  last  honors,  further.    We 


BUNKER  HILL  ADDRESS  135 

would  gladly  hold  them  yet  back  from  the  little  remnant 
of  that  immortal  band.  "  Serus  in  coelum  redeas" 8 
Illustrious  as  are  your  merits,  yet  far,  oh,  very  far  distant 
be  the  day,  when  any  inscription  shall  bear  your  name,  or 
any  tongue  pronounce  its  eulogy ! 

The  leading  reflection  to  which  this  occasion  seems  to 
invite  us,  respects  the  great  changes  which  have  happened 
in  the  fifty  years  since  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was 
fought.  And  it  peculiarly  marks  the  character  of  the 
present  age,  that,  in  looking  at  these  changes,  and  in  esti- 
mating their  effect  on  our  conditions,  we  are  obliged  to 
consider,  not  what  has  been  done  in  our  country  only, 
but  in  others  also.  In  these  interesting  times,  while  na- 
tions are  making  separate  and  individual  advances  in 
improvement,  they  make,  too,  a  common  progress;  like 
vessels  on  a  common  tide,  propelled  by  the  gales  at  differ- 
ent rates,  according  to  their  several  structure  and  man- 
agement, but  all  moved  forward  by  one  mighty  current, 
strong  enough  to  bear  onward  whatever  does  not  sink 
beneath  it. 

The  great  wheel  of  political  revolution  began  to  move 
in  America.  Here  its  rotation  was  guarded,  regular,  and 
safe.  Transferred  to  the  other  Continent,  from  unfortu- 
nate but  natural  causes,  it  received  an  irregular  and 
violent  impulse;  it  whirled  along  with  a  fearful  celerity; 
till  at  length,  like  the  chariot-wheels  in  the  races  of  an- 
tiquity, it  took  fire  from  the  rapidity  of  its  own  motion, 
and  blazed  onward,  spreading  conflagration  and  terror 
around. 

We  learn  from  the  result  of  this  experiment,  how  for- 
tunate was  our  own  condition,  and  how  admirably  the 
character  of  our  people  was  calculated  for  setting  the 
great  example  of  popular  governments.  The  possession  of 
power  did  not  turn  the  heads  of  the  American  people,  for 
they  had  long  been   in   the  habit  of  exercising  a  great 


136  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

degree  of  self-control.  Although  the  paramount  authority 
of  the  parent  state  existed  over  them,  yet  a  large  field 
of  legislation  had  always  been  open  to  our  colonial  as- 
semblies. They  were  accustomed  to  representative  bodies 
and  the  forms  of  free  government;  they  understood  the 
doctrine  of  the  division  of  power  among  different  branches 
and  the  necessity  of  checks  on  each.  The  character  of 
our  countrymen,  moreover,  was  sober,  moral,  and  re- 
ligious; and  there  was  little  in  the  change  to  shock  their 
feelings  of  justice  and  humanity,  or  even  to  disturb  an 
honest  prejudice.  We  had  no  domestic  throne  to  over- 
turn, no  privileged  orders  to  cast  down,  no  violent  changes 
of  property  to  encounter.  In  the  American  Revolution, 
no  man  sought  or  wished  for  more  than  to  defend  and 
enjoy  his  own.  None  hoped  for  plunder  or  for  spoil. 
Rapacity  was  unknown  to  it;  the  axe  was  not  among  the 
instruments  of  its  accomplishment;  and  we  all  know  that 
it  could  not  have  lived  a  single  day  under  any  well- 
founded  imputation  of  possessing  a  tendency  adverse  to 
the  Christian  religion. 

It  need  not  surprise  us,  that,  under  circumstances  less 
auspicious,  political  revolutions  elsewhere,  even  when  well 
intended,  have  terminated  differently.  It  is,  indeed,  a 
great  achievement,  it  is  the  masterwork  of  the  world,  to 
establish  governments  entirely  popular  on  lasting  founda- 
tions; nor  is  it  easy,  indeed,  to  introduce  the  popular  prin- 
ciple at  all  into  governments  to  which  it  has  been  alto- 
gether a  stranger.  It  cannot  be  doubted,  however,  that 
Europe  has  come  out  of  the  contest,  in  which  she  has 
been  so  long  engaged,  with  greatly  superior  knowledge, 
and,  in  many  respects,  in  a  highly  improved  condition. 
Whatever  benefit  has  been  acquired  is  likely  to  be  re- 
tained, for  it  consists  mainly  in  the  acquisition  of  more 
enlightened  ideas.  And  although  kingdoms  and  provinces 
may  be  wrested  from  the  hands  that  hold  them,  in  the 


BUNKER  HILL  ADDRESS  137 

same  manner  they  were  obtained ;  although  ordinary  and 
vulgar  power  may,  in  human  affairs,  be  lost  as  it  has  been 
won;  yet  it  is  the  glorious  prerogative  of  the  empire  of 
knowledge,  that  what  it  gains  it  never  loses.  On  the 
contrary,  it  increases  by  the  multiple  of  its  own  power; 
all  its  ends  become  means;  all  its  attainments,  helps  to 
new  conquests.  Its  whole  abundant  harvest  is  but  so 
much  seed  wheat,  and  nothing  has  limited,  and  nothing 
can  limit,  the  amount  of  ultimate  product. 

Under  the  influence  of  this  rapidly  increasing  knowl- 
edge, the  people  have  begun,  in  all  forms  of  government, 
to  think  and  to  reason,  on  affairs  of  state.  Regarding 
government  as  an  institution  for  the  public  good,  they 
demand  a  knowledge  of  its  operations,  and  a  participation 
in  its  exercise.  A  call  for  the  representative  system, 
wherever  it  is  not  enjoyed,  and  where  there  is  already 
intelligence  enough  to  estimate  its  value,  is  perseveringly 
made.  Where  men  may  speak  out,  they  demand  it ;  where 
the  bayonet  is  at  their  throats,  they  pray  for  it. 

When  Louis  the  Fourteenth  said,  "  I  am  the  State,"  7 
he  expressed  the  essence  of  the  doctrine  of  unlimited 
power.  By  the  rules  of  that  system,  the  people  are  dis- 
connected from  the  State;  they  are  its  subjects,  it  is  their 
lord.  These  ideas,  founded  in  the  love  of  power,  and  long 
supported  by  the  excess  and  the  abuse  of  it,  are  yielding, 
in  our  age,  to  other  opinions;  and  the  civilized  world 
seems  at  last  to  be  proceeding  to  the  conviction  of  that 
fundamental  and  manifest  truth,  that  the  powers  of  gov- 
ernment are  but  a  trust,  and  that  they  cannot  be  lawfully 
exercised  but  for  the  good  of  the  community.  As  knowl- 
edge is  more  and  more  extended,  this  conviction  becomes 
more  and  more  general.  Knowledge,  in  truth,  is  the  great 
sun  in  the  firmament.  Life  and  power  are  scattered  with 
all  its  beams.  The  prayer  of  the  Grecian  champion,  when 
enveloped  in  unnatural  clouds  and  darkness,   is  the  ap- 


138  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

propriate  political   supplication   for   the  people  of   every 
country  not  yet  blessed  with  free  institutions: 


"  Dispel  this  cloud,  the  light  of  heaven  restore, 
Give  me  to  see, — and  Ajax  asks  no  more." 

We  may  hope  that  the  growing  influence  of  enlight- 
ened sentiment  will  promote  the  permanent  peace  of  the 
world.  Wars  to  maintain  family  alliances,  to  uphold  or 
to  cast  down  dynasties,  and  to  regulate  successions  to 
thrones,  which  have  occupied  so  much  room  in  the  history 
of  modern  times,  if  not  less  likely  to  happen  at  all,  will  be 
less  likely  to  become  general  and  involve  many  nations, 
as  the  great  principle  shall  be  more  and  more  established, 
that  the  interest  of  the  world  is  peace,  and  its  first  great 
statute,  that  every  nation  possesses  the  power  of  estab- 
lishing a  government  for  itself.  But  public  opinion  has 
attained  also  an  influence  over  governments  who  do  not 
admit  the  popular  principle  into  their  organization.  A 
necessary  respect  for  the  judgment  of  the  world  operates, 
in  some  measure,  as  a  control  over  the  most  unlimited 
forms  of  authority.  It  is  owing,  perhaps,  to  this  truth, 
that  the  interesting  struggle  of  the  Greeks  8  has  been  suf- 
fered to  go  on  so  long,  without  a  direct  interference, 
either  to  wrest  that  country  from  its  present  masters,  or 
to  execute  the  system  of  pacification  by  force;  and,  with 
united  strength,  lay  the  neck  of  Christian  and  civilized 
Greece  at  the  foot  of  the  barbarian  Turk.  Let  us  thank 
God  that  we  live  in  an  age  when  something  has  influence 
besides  the  bayonet,  and  when  the  sternest  authority  does 
not  venture  to  encounter  the  scorching  power  of  public 
reproach.  Any  attempt  of  the  kind  I  have  mentioned 
should  be  met  by  one  universal  burst  of  indignation;  the 
air  of  the  civilized  world  ought  to  be  made  too  warm  to 
be  comfortably  breathed  by  any  one  who  would  hazard  it. 


BUNKER  HILL  ADDRESS  139 

And,  now,  let  us  indulge  an  honest  exultation  in  the 
conviction  of  the  benefit  which  the  example  of  our  country 
has  produced,  and  is  likely  to  produce,  on  human  freedom 
and  human  happiness.  Let  us  endeavor  to  comprehend 
in  all  its  magnitude,  and  to  feel  in  all  its  importance,  thd" 
part  assigned  to  us  in  the  great  drama  of  human  affairs. 
We  are  placed  at  the  head  of  the  system  of  representative 
and  popular  governments.  Thus  far  our  example  shows 
that  such  governments  are  compatible,  not  only  with 
respectability  and  power,  but  with  repose,  with  peace,  with 
security  of  personal  rights,  with  good  laws,  and  a  just 
administration. 

We  are  not  propagandists.  Wherever  other  systems 
are  preferred,  either  as  being  thought  better  in  them- 
selves, or  as  better  suited  to  existing  conditions,  we  leave 
the  preference  to  be  enjoyed.  Our  history  hitherto  proves, 
however,  that  the  popular  form  is  practicable,  and  that 
with  wisdom  and  knowledge  men  may  govern  themselves; 
and  the  duty  incumbent  on  us  is  to  preserve  the  con- 
sistency of  this  cheering  example,  and  take  care  that  noth- 
ing may  weaken  its  authority  with  the  world.  If,  in  our 
case,  the  representative  system  ultimately  fail,  popular 
governments  must  be  pronounced  impossible.  No  com- 
bination of  circumstances  more  favorable  to  the  experi- 
ment can  ever  be  expected  to  occur.  The  last  hopes  of 
mankind,  therefore,  rest  with  us;  and  if  it  should  be  pro- 
claimed that  our  example  had  become  an  argument  against 
the  experiment,  the  knell  of  popular  liberty  would  be 
sounded  throughout  the  earth. 

These  are  excitements  to  duty;  but  they  are  not  sug- 
gestions of  doubt.  Our  history  and  our  condition,  all 
that  is  gone  before  us,  and  all  that  surrounds  us,  au- 
thorize the  belief  that  popular  governments,  though  sub- 
ject to  occasional  variations,  in  form  perhaps  not  always 
for  the  better,  may  yet,  in  their  general  character,  be  as 


Ho  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

durable  and  permanent  as  other  systems.  We  know, 
indeed,  that  in  our  country  any  other  is  impossible.  The 
principle  of  free  governments  adheres  to  the  American 
soil.  It  is  bedded  in  it,  immovable  as  its  mountains. 
\X"C&4*4  let  the  sacred  obligations  which  have  devolved  on 
this  generation,  and  on  us,  sink  deep  into  our  hearts. 
Those  who  established  our  liberty  and  our  government 
are  daily  dropping  from  among  us.  The  great  trust  now 
descends  to  new  hands.  Let  us  apply  ourselves  to  that 
which  is  presented  to  us,  as  our  appropriate  object.  We 
can  win  no  laurels  in  a  war  for  independence.  Earlier 
and  worthier  hands  have  gathered  them  all.  Nor  are 
there  places  for  us  by  the  side  of  Solon,  and  Alfred,  and 
other  founders  of  states.  Our  fathers  have  filled  them. 
But  there  remains  to  us  a  great  duty  of  defense  and 
preservation;  and  there  is  opened  to  us,  also,  a  noble 
pursuit,  to  which  the  spirit  of  the  times  strongly  invites 
us.  Our  proper  business  is  improvement.  Let  our  age 
be  the  age  of  improvement.  In  a  day  of  peace,  let  us 
advance  the  arts  of  peace  and  the  works  of  peace.  Let 
us  develop  the  resources  of  our  land,  call  forth  its  powers, 
build  up  its  institutions,  promote  all  its  great  interests, 
and  see  whether  we  also,  in  our  day  and  generation,  may 
not  perform  something  worthy  to  be  remembered.  Let 
us  cultivate  a  true  spirit  of  union  and  harmony.  In  pur- 
suing the  great  objects  which  our  condition  points  out  to 
us,  let  us  act  under  a  settled  conviction,  and  an  habitual 
feeling,  that  these  twenty-four  States  are  one  country. 
Let  our  conceptions  be  enlarged  to  the  circle  of  our  duties. 
Let  us  extend  our  ideas  over  the  whole  of  the  vast  field 
in  which  we  are  called  to  act.     Let  our  object  be,  our 

COUNTRY,    OUR    WHOLE    COUNTRY,    AND    NOTHING    BUT 

our  country.  And,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  may  that 
country  itself  become  a  vast  and  splendid  monument,  not 
of  oppression  and  terror,  but  of  Wisdom,  of  Peace,  and 


BUNKER  HILL  ADDRESS  141 

of   Liberty,   upon  which  the  world  may  gaze  with   ad- 
miration forever! 

Exactly  what  did  Webster  wish. to  commemorate? 

In  what  sense  is  this  speech  a  valedictory  of  the  American 
Revolution? 

In  what  respects  was  the  occasion  fit  for  a  commemorative 
address? 

Did  the  orator  in  delivering  this  address  contend  with  opposi- 
tion of  any  sort? 

Why  is  formal  argument  out  of  place  in  this  address? 

Point  out  instances  where  Webster  used  persons  or  places  to 
make  his  words  persuasive. 

Why  were  current  events  given  a  place  in  this  commemora- 
tive address? 

State  as  briefly  as  possible  the  thought  that  underlies  the 
address  as  a  whole. 

Point  out  respects  in  which  Webster's  ideal  of  government  is 
more  democratic  than  Chatham's. 


WEBSTER'S  REPLY  TO  HAYNE 

January  26,  1830 

In  1824  when  Henry  Clay  proposed  a  tariff  bill  which 
raised  the  duty  on  imported  goods  to  thirty-three 
and  a  third  per  cent  and  to  a  minimum  of  thirty  cents 
a  yard  on  cotton  cloth,  the  measure  was  opposed  by 
Daniel  Webster.  He  maintained  that  Engish  manu- 
facturers had  prospered  in  spite  of  protection,  not 
because  of  it;  and  he  questioned  the  wisdom  of  at- 
tempting to  support  a  business  that  "  cannot  support 
itself."  Much  more  outspoken  in  their  opposition  to 
a  protective  tariff  at  this  time,  however,  were  Cal- 
houn, Randolph,  and  other  southern  statesmen.  They 
held  that  the  current  import  duties  were  designed  to 
rob  the  southern  agriculturists  for  the  benefit  of  New 
England. 

In  1828  when  a  still  higher  tariff  was  under  discus- 
sion Webster  failed  to  oppose  the  measure.  While  in 
theory  he  was  still  inclined  to  free  trade,  he  believed 
it  unwise  to  press  his  own  views  since  the  country 
had  committed  itself  to  protection  in  1824  and  various 
industries  had  been  organized  with  that  understand- 
ing. This  change  in  his  public  policy,  without  regard 
for  his  conflicting  personal  feelings,  is  a  tribute  to 
the  earnestness  and  sincerity  of  his  patriotism.  The 
bill  when  passed  was  dubbed  by  the  South,  The  Tariff 
of  Abominations.  Unable  to  overcome  the  sentiment 
in  favor  of  protection  in  Congress,  Vice-President 
Calhoun    formulated    his    doctrine    of    Nullification. 

142 


REPLY  TO  HAYNE  143 

According  to  this  theory,  any  state  might  forbid  the 
operation  within  its  limits  of  any  act  of  Congress 
which  in  its  opinion  did  not  accord  with  the  Federal 
Constitution.  Although  rumors  of  South  Carolina's 
advocacy  of  Nullification  were  current,  the  doctrine 
was  never  presented  in  Congress  until  a  Land  Bill  was 
debated  in  1830. 

This  measure  which  proposed  to  cease  tempo- 
rarily, the  marketing  of  public  land,  was  strenuously 
opposed  by  members  of  Congress  from  the  Western 
States.  Mr.  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina, 
was  quick  to  note  this  lack  of  agreement  between  the 
West  and  the  East,  and  he  attempted  to  use  the  dif- 
ference of  opinion  for  the  benefit  of  his  own  state. 
He  proposed  that  the  South  and  West  unite  their 
forces  in  Congress  to  secure  desired  legislation.  The 
South  was  to  get  a  lower  tariff  and  the  West  was  to 
obtain  legislation  that  would  facilitate  the  marketing 
of  public  land.  In  furthering  this  plan  he  eulogized 
South  Carolina  and  attacked  New  England  from  many 
points  of  view.  In  particular  he  criticized  the  tariff 
legislation  favored  by  New  England  and,  in  the  course 
of  his  discussion,  set  forth  for  the  first  time  a  full 
exposition  of  Calhoun's  doctrine  of  Nullification. 

The  day  following  Hayne's  speech,  Webster,  then 
in  his  first  term  as  senator  from  Massachusetts,  made 
his  famous  reply.  He  had  had  only  the  intervening 
night  in  which  to  make  formal  preparation,  but  he 
never  spoke  to  better  advantage.  In  clearness  and  dig- 
nity of  language,  and  in  force  of  argument,  his  speech 
is  unsurpassed.  His  words,  as  Lodge  says,  which  rang 
out  in  1830  in  the  Senate  Chamber  have  come  down 
through  the  long  years  of  political  conflict  and  civil 
war  and  at  last  have  become  part  of  the  political  creed 
of  every  one  of  his  countrymen.    He  expressed  what 


i44  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

the  truest  patriots  of  his  time  felt  but  could  not  say. 
He  defined  the  character  of  the  Union. 


REPLY  TO  HAYNE 

Daniel    Webster 

Let  me  observe  that  the  eulogium  pronounced  by  the 
honorable  gentleman1  on  the  character  of  the  State  of 
South  Carolina,  for  her  Revolutionary  and  other  merits, 
meets  my  hearty  concurrence.2  I  shall  not  acknowledge 
that  the  honorable  member  goes  before  me  in  regard  to 
whatever  of  distinguished  talent,  or  distinguished  charac- 
ter, South  Carolina  has  produced.  I  claim  part  of  the 
honor;  I  partake  in  the  pride  of  her  great  names.  I 
claim  them  for  countrymen,  one  and  all — the  Laurenses, 
the  Rutledges,  the  Pinckneys,  the  Sumpters,  the  Marions — 
Americans  all,  whose  fame  is  no  more  to  be  hemmed  in 
by  state  lines,  than  their  talents  and  patriotism  were 
capable  of  being  circumscribed  within  the  same  narrow 
limits.  In  their  day  and  generation  they  served  and  hon- 
ored the  country,  and  the  whole  country;  and  their  re- 
nown is  of  the  treasures  of  the  whole  country.  Him 
whose  honored  name 3  the  gentleman  himself  bears, — 
does  he  esteem  me  less  capable  of  gratitude  for  his  patri- 
otism, or  sympathy  for  his  sufferings,  than  if  his  eyes  had 
first  opened  upon  the  light  of  Massachusetts  instead  of 
South  Carolina?  Sir,  does  he  suppose  it  in  his  power  to 
exhibit  a  Carolina  name  so  bright  as  to  produce  envy  in 
my  bosom?  No,  sir,  increased  gratification  and  delight, 
rather.  I  thank  God  that,  if  I  am  gifted  with  little  of  the 
spirit  which  is  able  to  raise  mortals  to  the  skies,  I  have 
yet  none,  as  I  trust,  of  that  other  spirit  which  would  drag 
angels  down.     When  I  shall  be  found,  sir,  in  my  place 


REPLY  TO  HAYNE  145 

here  in  the  Senate,  or  elsewhere,  to  sneer  at  public  merit, 
because  it  happens  to  spring  up  beyond  the  little  limits 
of  my  own  state  or  neighborhood ;  when  I  refuse,  for  any 
such  cause  or  for  any  cause,  the  homage  due  to  American 
talent,  to  elevated  patriotism,  to  sincere  devotion  to  lib- 
erty and  the  country;  or,  if  I  see  an  uncommon  endow- 
ment of  heaven,  if  I  see  extraordinary  capacity  and  virtue, 
in  any  son  of  the  South,  and  if,  moved  by  local  prejudice 
or  gangrened  by  state  jealousy,  I  get  up  here  to  abate  the 
tithe  of  a  hair  from  his  just  character  and  just  fame,  may 
my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth! 

Sir,  let  me  recur  to  pleasing  recollections;  let  me  in- 
dulge in  refreshing  remembrance  of  the  past;  let  me 
remind  you  that,  in  early  times,  no  states  cherished 
greater  harmony,  both  in  principle  and  feeling,  than  Mas- 
sachusetts and  South  Carolina.  Would  to  God  that  har- 
mony might  again  return!  Shoulder  to  shoulder  they 
went  through  the  Revolution;  hand  in  hand  they  stood 
round  the  administration  of  Washington,  and  felt  his 
own  great  arm  lean  on  them  for  support.  Unkind  feel- 
ing (if  it  exists),  alienation,  and  distrusts  are  the  growth, 
unnatural  to  such  soils,  of  false  principles  since  sown. 
They  are  weeds,  the  seeds  of  which  that  same  great  arm 
never  scattered. 

Mr.  President,  I  shall  enter  on  no  encomium  upon 
Massachusetts;  she  needs  none.  There  she  is!  Behold 
her,  and  judge  for  yourselves.  There  is  her  history ;  the 
world  knows  it  by  heart.  The  past,  at  least,  is  secure. 
There  is  Boston,  and  Concord,  and  Lexington,  and 
Bunker  Hill;  and  there  they  will  remain  forever.  The 
bones  of  her  sons,  falling  in  the  great  struggle  for  Inde- 
pendence, now  lie  mingled  with  the  soil  of  every  state 
from  New  England  to  Georgia;  and  there  they  will  lie 
forever.  And,  sir,  wThere  American  liberty  raised  its 
first  voice,  and  where  its  youth  was  nurtured  and  sus- 


i46  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

tained,  there  it  still  lives,  in  the  strength  of  its  manhood 
and  full  of  its  original  spirit.  If  discord  and  disunion 
shall  wound  it,  if  party  strife  and  blind  ambition  shall 
hawk  at  it  and  tear  it,  if  folly  and  madness,  if  uneasiness 
under  salutary  and  necessary  restraint  shall  succeed  in 
separating  it  from  that  Union  by  which  alone  its  existence 
is  made  sure,  it  will  stand,  in  the  end,  by  the  side  of  that 
cradle  in  which  its  infancy  was  rocked ;  it  will  stretch 
forth  its  arm  with  whatever  vigor  it  may  still  retain  over 
the  friends  who  gather  round  it;  and  it  will  fall  at  last, 
if  fall  it  must,  amid  the  proudest  monuments  of  its  own 
glory,  and  on  the  very  spot  of  its  origin. 

I  understand  the  honorable  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina  to  maintain  that  it  is  a  right  of  the  state  legis- 
latures to  interfere  whenever,  in  their  judgment,  this 
government  transcends  its  constitutional  limits,  and  to 
arrest  the  operation  of  its  laws.  I  understand  him  to 
maintain  this  right,  as  a  right  existing  under  the  Consti- 
tution, not  as  a  right  to  overthrow  it  on  the  ground  of 
extreme  necessity,  such  as  would  justify  violent  revolu- 
tion. I  understand  him  to  insist  that,  if  the  exigency  of 
the  case,  in  the  opinion  of  any  state  government,  require 
it,  such  state  government  may,  by  its  own  sovereign  au- 
thority, annul  an  act  of  the  general  government  which  it 
deems  plainly  and  palpably  unconstitutional. 

This  leads  us  to  inquire  into  the  origin  of  this  govern- 
ment and  the  source  of  its  power.  Whose  agent  is  it? 
Is  it  the  creature  of  the  state  legislators,  or  the  creature 
of  the  people?  If  the  government  of  the  United  States 
be  the  agent  of  the  State  governments,  then  they  may 
control  it,  provided  they  can  agree  in  the  manner  of  con- 
trolling it ;  if  it  be  the  agent  of  the  people,  then  the  people 
alone  can  control  it,  restrain  it,  modify,  or  reform  it.  It 
is  observable  enough  that  the  doctrine  for  which  the 
honorable  gentleman  contends  leads  him  to  the  necessity 


REPLY  TO  HAYNE  147 

of  maintaining,  not  only  that  this  general  government  is 
the  creature  of  the  States,  but  that  it  is  the  creature  of  each 
of  the  States  severally,  so  that  each  may  assert  the  power 
for  itself  of  determining  whether  it  acts  within  the  limits 
of  its  authority.  It  is  the  servant  of  four  and  twenty 
masters,  of  different  wills  and  different  purposes,  and  yet 
bound  to  obey  all.  This  absurdity  (for  it  seems  no  less) 
arises  from  a  misconception  as  to  the  origin  of  this  gov- 
ernment and  its  true  character.  It  is,  sir,  the  people's 
Constitution,4  the  people's  government,  made  for  the 
people,  made  by  the  people,  and  answerable  to  the  people. 
The  people  of  the  United  States  have  declared  that  this 
Constitution  shall  be  the  supreme  law.  We  must  either 
admit  the  proposition  or  dispute  their  authority. 

The  States  are,  unquestionably,  sovereign,  so  far  as 
their  sovereignty  is  not  affected  by  this  supreme  law.  But 
the  State  legislatures,  as  political  bodies,  however  sover- 
eign, are  yet  not  sovereign  over  the  people.  So  far  as  the 
people  have  given  power  to  the  general  government,  so 
far  the  grant  is  unquestionably  good,  and  the  government 
holds  of  the  people,  and  not  of  the  State  governments. 
We  are  all  agents  of  the  same  supreme  power,  the  people. 
The  general  government  and  the  State  governments  de- 
rive their  authority  from  the  same  source.  Neither  can, 
in  relation  to  the  other,  be  called  primary,  though  one  is 
definite  and  restricted,  and  the  other  general  and  residu- 
ary. The  national  government  possesses  those  powers 
which  it  can  be  shown  the  people  have  conferred  on  it, 
and  no  more.  All  the  rest  belongs  to  the  State  govern- 
ments, or  to  the  people  themselves. 

I  must  now  beg  to  ask,  sir,  whence  is  this  supposed 
right  of  the  States  derived?  Where  do  they  find  the 
power  to  interfere  with  the  laws  of  the  Union  ?  Sir,  the 
opinion  which  the  honorable  gentleman  maintains  is  a 
notion  founded  on  a  total  misapprehension,  in  my  judg- 


148  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

ment,  of  the  origin  of  this  government,  and  of  the  founda- 
tion on  which  it  stands.  I  hold  it  to  be  a  popular  gov- 
ernment, erected  by  the  people;  those  who  administer  it 
responsible  to  the  people;  and  itself  capable  of  being 
amended  and  modified,  just  as  the  people  may  choose  it 
should  be.  It  is  as  popular,  just  as  truly  emanating  from 
the  people,  as  the  State  governments.  It  is  created  for 
one  purpose;  the  State  governments  for  another.  It  has 
its  own  powers;  they  have  theirs.  There  is  no  more 
authority  with  them  to  arrest  the  operation  of  a  law  of 
Congress,  than  with  Congress  to  arrest  the  operation  of 
their  laws. 

We  are  here  to  administer  a  Constitution  emanating 
immediately  from  the  people,  and  trusted  by  them  to  our 
administration.  It  is  not  the  creature  of  the  State  gov- 
ernments. It  is  of  no  moment  to  the  argument,  that  cer- 
tain acts  of  the  State  legislatures  are  necessary  to  fill  our 
seats  in  this  body.  That  is  not  one  of  their  original  State 
powers,  a  part  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  State.  It  is  a 
duty  which  the  people,  by  the  Constitution  itself,  have 
imposed  on  the  State  legislatures,  and  which  they  might 
have  left  to  be  performed  elsewhere,  if  they  had  seen  fit. 
So  they  have  left  the  choice  of  president  with  electors; 
but  all  this  does  not  affect  the  proposition  that  this  whole 
government,  president,  Senate,  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, is  a  popular  government.  It  leaves  it  still  all  its 
popular  character.  The  governor  of  a  State  (in  some 
of  the  States)  is  chosen,  not  directly  by  the  people,  but 
by  those  who  are  chosen  by  the  people,  for  the  purpose 
of  performing,  among  other  duties,  that  of  electing  a  gov- 
ernor. Is  the  government  of  the  State,  on  that  account, 
not  a  popular  government?  This  government,  sir,  is  the 
independent  offspring  of  the  popular  will.  It  is  not  the 
creature  of  State  legislatures;  nay,  more,  if  the  whole 
truth  must  be  told,  the  people  brought  it  into  existence, 


REPLY  TO  HAYNE  149 

established  it,  and  have  hitherto  supported  it,  for  the  very 
purpose,  among  others,  of  imposing  certain  salutary  re- 
straints on  State  sovereignties.  The  States  cannot  now 
make  war;  they  cannot  contract  alliances;  they  cannot 
make,  each  for  itself,  separate  regulations  of  commerce; 
they  cannot  lay  imposts;  they  cannot  coin  money.  If 
this  Constitution,  sir,  be  the  creature  of  State  legislatures, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  it  has  obtained  a  strange  control 
over  the  volitions  of  its  creators. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  thus  stated  the  reasons  of  my 
dissent  to  the  doctrines  which  have  been  advanced  and 
maintained.  I  am  conscious  of  having  detained  you  and 
the  Senate  much  too  long.  I  was  drawn  into  the  debate 
with  no  previous  deliberation,  such  as  is  suited  to  the 
discussion  of  so  grave  and  important  a  subject.  But  it  is 
a  subject  of  which  my  heart  is  full,  and  I  have  not  been 
willing  to  suppress  the  utterance  of  its  spontaneous  senti- 
ments. I  cannot  even  now  persuade  myself  to  relinquish 
it,  without  expressing  once  more  deep  conviction  that, 
since  it  represents  nothing  less  than  the  union  of  the 
States,  it  is  of  the  most  vital  and  essential  importance  to 
the  public  happiness. 

I  profess,  sir,  in  my  career  hitherto  to  have  kept  steadily 
in  view  the  prosperity  and  honor  of  the  whole  country 
and  the  preservation  of  our  federal  Union.  It  is  to  that 
Union  we  owe  our  safety  at  home  and  our  consideration 
and  dignity  abroad.  It  is  to  that  Union  that  we  are 
chiefly  indebted  for  whatever  makes  us  most  proud  of  our 
country.  That  Union  we  reached  only  by  the  discipline 
of  our  virtues  in  the  severe  school  of  adversity.  It  had  its 
origin  in  the  necessities  of  disordered  finance,  prostrate 
commerce,  and  ruined  credit.  Under  its  benign  influence 
those  great  interests  immediately  awoke,  as  from  the  dead, 
and  sprang  forth  with  newness  of  life.  Every  year  of 
its  duration  has  teemed  with  fresh  proofs  of  its  utility 


i5o  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

and  its  blessings;  and  although  our  territory  has  stretched 
out  wider  and  wider  and  our  population  spread  farther 
and  farther,  they  have  not  outrun  its  protection  or  its 
benefits.  It  has  been  to  us  all  a  copious  fountain  of  na- 
tional, social,  and  personal  happiness. 

I  have  not  allowed  myself,  sir,  to  look  beyond  the 
Union  to  see  what  might  lie  hidden  in  the  dark  recess 
behind.  I  have  not  coolly  weighed  the  chances  of  pre- 
serving liberty  when  the  bonds  that  unite  us  together 
shall  be  broken  asunder.  I  have  not  accustomed  myself 
to  hang  over  the  precipice  of  disunion,  to  see  whether  with 
my  short  sight  I  can  fathom  the  depth  of  the  abyss  below ;: 
nor  could  I  regard  him  as  a  safe  counselor  in  the  affairs 
of  this  government,  whose  thoughts  should  be  mainly  bent 
on  considering,  not  how  this  Union  may  be  best  pre- 
served, but  how  tolerable  might  be  the  condition  of  the 
people  when  it  should  be  broken  up  and  destroyed. 

While  the  Union  lasts  we  have  high,  exciting,  grati- 
fying prospects  spread  out  before  us  for  us  and  our  chil- 
dren. Beyond  that  I  seek  not  to  penetrate  the  veil.  God 
grant  that  in  my  day  at  least  that  curtain  may  not  rise! 
God  grant  that  on  my  vision  never  may  be  opened  what 
lies  behind!  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to  behold 
for  the  last  time  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I  not  see  him 
shining  on  the  broken  and  dishonored  fragments  of  a 
once  glorious  Union;  on  States  dissevered,  discordant, 
belligerent;  on  a  land  rent  with  civil  feuds,  or  drenched, 
it  may  be,  in  fraternal  blood!  Let  their  last  feeble  and 
lingering  glance  rather  behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the 
Republic,  now  known  and  honored  throughout  the  earth, 
still  full  high  advanced,  its  arms  and  trophies  streaming 
in  their  original  lustre,  not  a  stripe  erased  or  polluted,  nor 
a  single  star  obscured,  bearing  for  its  motto  no  such  miser- 
able interrogatory  as,  "What  is  all  this  worth ?"  nor 
those  other  words  of  delusion  and  folly,  "  Liberty  first 


REPLY  TO  HAYNE  151 

and  Union  afterward  " ;  but  everywhere,  spread  all  over 
in  characters  of  living  light,  blazing  on  all  its  ample 
folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea  and  over  the  land,  and  in 
every  wind  under  the  whole  heavens,  that  other  sentiment 
dear  to  every  American  heart — Liberty  and  Union,  now 
and  forever,  one  and  inseparable! 

What  was  the  rhetorical  and  persuasive  effect  of  Webster's 
praise  of  South  Carolina? 

From  what  source  does  Webster  derive  all  legal  authority? 

In  what  sense  is  the  Constitution  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  ? 

Whose  views  were  the  more  democratic,  Hayne's  or  Web- 
ster's ? 

What  reason  is  there  for  maintaining  that  this  speech  was 
one  of  the  important  influences  that  brought  on  the  Civil  War? 

To  what  motives  did  Webster  appeal  in  this  speech? 


ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE 

February  27,  i860 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  Massachusetts  abol- 
ished slavery,  and  her  example  was  gradually  followed 
by  the  other  states  north  of  Virginia.  At  that  time  in 
the  South  also  it  seemed  probable  that  little  by  little 
slavery  would  disappear  until  the  entire  territory  of 
the  United  States  was  free.  The  invention  of  the  cot- 
ton gin  in  1793,  however,  increased  many  times  the 
profit  that  could  be  gained  from  slave  labor  and  ar- 
rested the  movement  for  abolition.  After  the  begin- 
ning of  the  nineteenth  century  the  prosperity  of  the 
South  seemed  to  depend  on  the  continuance  of  slavery. 

In  the  North  the  sentiment  for  abolition  meanwhile 
grew  stronger,  but  the  difference  of  opinion  between 
the  two  sections  was  not  yet  so  profound  as  to  pre- 
vent the  adoption  in  1820  of  Henry  Clay's  Missouri 
Compromise  which  limited  the  spread  of  slavery  in 
the  territories  north  of  latitude  36  °  30'.  In  1830 
in  Boston,  William  Lloyd  Garrison  began  to  publish 
The  Liberator  and  thereby  initiated  in  the  face  of 
great  opposition  even  in  the  North  an  aggressive  strug- 
gle against  slavery. 

In  1850  again  Henry  Clay  was  able  to  secure  in 
Congress,  with  great  difficulty,  a  colorless  compromise 
between  the  two  conflicting  sections.  Among  its 
terms  was  a  provision  that  the  territories  of  Utah  and 
New  Mexico  were  to  be  organized  without  any  Fed- 
eral action  concerning  slavery.  It  was  not  long,  how- 
ever, before  slavery  was  introduced  into  these  terri- 

152 


ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE     153 

tories  through  the  action  of  their  territorial  legislatures 
This  result  enabled  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the  leader  of 
the  Northern  Democrats  to  secure  by  the  aid  of 
Southern  votes  the  passage  by  Congress  in  1854  of 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  a  measure  that  abrogated 
the  Missouri  Compromise  and  left  to  home  rule  or 
"  popular  sovereignty  "  to  determine  whether  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  were  to  be  free  or  slave.  To  combat 
this  measure  the  Republican  party  was  organized. 

In  1857,  however,  the  Supreme  Court,  in  the  Dred 
Scott  decision,  held  that  the  Constitution  recognized 
slaves  as  property  which  Congress  must  protect.  This 
view,  unexpectedly  favorable  to  slavery,  was  at  once 
adopted  by  the  South  in  place  of  Douglas's  theory  of 
state  authority  or  "  popular  sovereignty."  The  Demo- 
crats in  the  North  were  unwilling  to  support  the  Dred 
Scott  decision  as  it  seemed  to  place  slavery  under  the 
protection  of  Congress  and  to  do  away  with  all  future 
possibility  of  compromise.  Many  of  the  Northern 
Democrats  at  this  time  accordingly  were  forced  from 
their  neutral  position  and  preferring  to  oppose  rather 
than  defend  slavery  were  absorbed  by  the  Republican 
party. 

In  1858  in  Illinois  Douglas  was  the  candidate  of  the 
Democratic  party  for  the  United  States  senate  and 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  nominated  by  the  Republicans. 
Lincoln  challenged  Douglas,  who  was  a  highly  edu- 
cated and  brilliant  speaker,  to  a  series  of  seven  public 
debates;  and  Douglas  accepted  on  the  condition  that 
he  should  both  open  and  close  each  debate.  The 
contest  has  been  called  the  greatest  "  intellectual 
wrestle "  that  has  taken  place  in  America.  The 
speeches  were  reported  throughout  the  country  and 
the  contest  was  followed  with  interest  everywhere. 
Although  the  legislature  sent  Douglas  to  the  Senate, 


154      ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE 

the  people  supported  Lincoln.  It  was  generally  con- 
ceded that  he  had  had  the  better  of  the  argument,  and 
Illinois  went  Republican  by  five  thousand  majority. 
All  over  the  North  the  people  were  eager  to  see  this 
young  giant  of  the  West  who  in  force  of  logic  and 
strategic  ability  had  proved  his  superiority  to  one  of 
the  foremost  politicians  and  debaters  of  the  time. 

When  Lincoln  was  invited  in  October,  1859,  by  the 
Young  Men's  Republican  Club  of  New  York  City  to 
deliver  a  political  address  before  their  association,  he 
accepted  with  eagerness.  Douglas  had  recently  spoken 
at  Columbus  and  had  reaffirmed  his  doctrine  of  "  popu- 
lar sovereignty  "  for  the  control  of  slavery.  He  had 
attempted  to  ground  his  views  upon  the  authority  of 
the  Constitution  and  the  writings  of  the  founders  of 
the  republic.  He  had  closed  his  speech  by  saying, 
"  Our  fathers,  when  they  framed  this  government 
under  which  we  live,  understood  this  question  as  well 
and  even  better,  than  we  do  now."  To  these  senti- 
ments Lincoln  determined  to  reply;  and  he  worked 
long  and  laboriously  to  make  his  answer  conclusive. 

Finally,  on  February  27,  i860,  in  the  large  hall  of 
Cooper  Institute,  he  rose  to  give  his  address  before  a 
great  audience.  He  was  far  from  feeling  confident. 
He  spoke  the  first  sentences  with  diffidence — But  why 
write  the  story  anew?  It  is  told  in  the  words  of  one 
who  heard  him  speak.     Joseph  Choate  says: 

"  It  is  now  forty  years  since  I  first  saw  and  heard 
Abraham  Lincoln,  but  the  impression  which  he  left 
on  my  mind  is  ineffaceable.  After  his  great  successes 
in  the  West  he  came  to  New  York  to  make  a  political 
address.  He  appeared  in  every  sense  of  the  word  like 
one  of  the  plain  people  among  whom  he  loved  to  be 
counted.  At  first  sight  there  was  nothing  impressive 
or  imposing  about  him — except  that  his  great  stature 


ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE     155 

singled  him  out  from  the  crowd;  his  clothes  hung 
awkwardly  on  his  giant  frame,  his  face  was  of  a  dark 
pallor,  without  the  slightest  tinge  of  color;  his  seamed 
and  rugged  features  bore  the  furrows  of  hardship  and 
struggle;  his  deep-set  eyes  looked  sad  and  anxious; 
his  countenance  in  repose  gave  little  evidence  of  that 
brain  power  which  had  raised  him  from  the  lowest  to 
the  highest  station  among  his  countrymen ;  as  he  talked 
to  me  before  the  meeting,  he  seemed  ill  at  ease,  with 
that  sort  of  apprehension  which  a  young  man  might 
feel  before  presenting  himself  to  a  new  and  strange 
audience,  whose  critical  disposition  he  dreaded.  It 
was  a  great  audience,  including  all  the  noted  men — 
all  the  learned  and  cultured — of  his  party  in  New 
York:  editors,  clergymen,  statesmen,  lawyers,  mer- 
chants, critics.  They  were  all  very  curious  to  hear 
him.  His  fame  as  a  powerful  speaker  had  preceded 
him,  and  exaggerated  rumor  of  his  wit — the  worst 
forerunner  of  an  orator — had  reached  the  East.  When 
Mr.  Bryant  presented  him,  on  the  high  platform  of 
Cooper  Institute,  a  vast  sea  of  eager  faces,  upturned, 
greeted  him,  full  of  intense  curiosity  to  see  what  this 
rude  child  of  the  people  was  like.  He  was  equal 
to  the  occasion.  When  he  spoke  he  was  transformed ; 
his  eyes  kindled,  his  voice  rang,  his  face  shone  and 
seemed  to  light  up  the  whole  assembly.  For  an  hour 
and  a  half  he  held  his  audience  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand.  His  style  of  speech  and  manner  of  delivery  were 
severely  simple.  What  Lowell  called  '  The  grand 
simplicities  of  the  Bible/  with  which  he  was  so  fa- 
miliar, were  reflected  in  his  discourse.  With  no  at- 
tempt at  ornament  or  rhetoric,  without  parade  or 
pretence,  he  spoke  straight  to  the  point.  If  any  came 
expecting  the  turgid  eloquence  or  the  ribaldry  of  the 
frontier,  they  must  have  been  startled  at  the  earnest 


156  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  sincere  purity  of  his  utterances.  It  was  marvel- 
lous to  see  how  this  untutored  man,  by  mere  self- 
discipline  and  the  chastening  of  his  own  spirit,  had 
outgrown  all  meretricious  arts,  and  found  his  own  way 
to  the  grandeur  and  strength  of  absolute  simplicity." 

"  That  night  the  great  hall,  and  the  next  day  the 
whole  city  rang  with  delighted  applause  and  con- 
gratulations, and  he  who  had  come  as  a  stranger  de- 
parted with  the  laurels  of  a  great  triumph. " 

It  was  the  last  time  that  Abraham  Lincoln  spoke  as 
a  stranger  before  any  audience.  He  who  had  been 
the  leader  of  the  Republicans  of  the  Middle  West  had 
now  become  the  foremost  Republican  of  America.  He 
was  nominated  for  the  presidency  in  the  convention  at 
Chicago  on  May  16,  i860,  and  was  elected  president 
the  following  November. 

Lincoln's  speech  at  Cooper  Union  was  influential  in 
unifying  Northern  anti-slavery  sentiment,  in  insuring 
the  success  of  the  anti-slavery  party,  and  in  securing 
for  America  the  election  of  a  great  president  and  a 
great  moral  leader. 


ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE 

Abraham  Lincoln 

Mr.  President  and  Fellow-Citizens  of  New  York: 
The  facts  with  which  I  shall  deal  this  evening  are  mainly 
old  and  familiar ;  nor  is  there  anything  new  in  the  general 
use  I  shall  make  of  them.  If  there  shall  be  any  novelty, 
it  will  be  in  the  mode  of  presenting  the  facts,  and  the 
inferences  and  observations  following  that  presentation. 
In  his  speech  last  autumn  at  Columbus  Ohio,  as  reported 
in  the  New  York  Times,  Senator  Douglas  said : 


ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE      157 

Our  fathers,  when  they  framed  the  government  under  which 
we  live,  understood  this  question  just  as  well,  and  even  better, 
than  we  do  now. 

I  fully  endorse  this,  and  I  adopt  it  as  a  text  for  this  dis- 
course. I  so  adopt  it  because  it  furnishes  a  precise  and 
agreed  starting  point  for  a  discussion  between  Republi- 
cans and  that  wing  of  the  Democracy  headed  by  Senator 
Douglas.  It  simply  leaves  the  inquiry:  What  was  the 
understanding  those  fathers  had  of  the  question  men- 
tioned ? 

What  is  the  frame  of  government  under  which  we  live? 
The  answer  must  be,  "  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States." 1  That  Constitution  consists  of  the  original 
framed  in  1787,  and  under  which  the  present  government 
first  went  into  operation,  and  twelve  subsequently  framed 
amendments,  the  first  ten  of  which  were  framed  in  1789. 

Who  were  our  fathers  that  framed  the  Constitution? 
I  suppose  the  "  thirty-nine  "  who  signed  the  original  in- 
strument may  be  fairly  called  our  fathers  who  framed 
that  part  of  the  present  government.  It  is  almost  exactly 
true  to  say  they  framed  it,  and  it  is  altogether  true  to  say 
they  fairly  represented  the  opinion  and  sentiment  of  the 
whole  nation  at  that  time.  Their  names,  being  familiar 
to  nearly  all,  and  accessible  to  quite  all,  need  not  now  be 
repeated. 

I  take  these  "  thirty-nine,"  for  the  present,  as  being 
"  our  fathers  who  framed  the  government  under  which 
we  live."  What  is  the  question  which,  according  to  the 
test,  those  fathers  understood  "  just  as  well  and  even 
better  than  we  do  now  "? 

It  is  this:  Does  the  proper  division  of  local  from 
Federal  authority,  or  anything  in  the  Constitution  forbid 
our  Federal  Government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  our 
Federal  Territories? 

Upon  this,  Senator  Douglas  holds  the  affirmative,  and 


158  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Republicans  the  negative.  This  affirmation  and  denial 
form  an  issue;  and  this  issue — this  question — is  precisely 
what  the  text  declares  our  fathers  understood  "  better 
than  we."  Let  us  now  inquire  whether  the  "  thirty- 
nine,"  or  any  of  them,  ever  acted  upon  this  question ;  and, 
if  they  did,  how  they  acted  upon  it — how  they  expressed 
that  understanding. 

We  have  twenty-three  out  of  our  thirty-nine  fathers 
"  who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live,"  who 
have,  upon  their  official  responsibility  and  their  corporal 
oaths,2  acted  upon  the  very  question  which  the  text  affirms 
they  "  understood  just  as  well,  and  even  better,  than  we 
do  now  " ;  and  twenty-one  of  them — a  clear  majority  of 
the  whole  "  thirty-nine  " — so  acting  upon  it  as  to  make 
them  guilty  of  gross  political  impropriety  and  willful  per- 
jury, if,  in  their  understanding,  any  proper  division  be- 
tween local  and  Federal  authority,  or  anything  in  the 
Constitution  they  had  made  themselves,  and  sworn  to 
support,  forbade  the  Federal  Government  to  control  as 
to  slavery  in  the  Federal  Territories.  Thus  the  twenty- 
one  acted  and,  as  actions  speak  louder  than  words,  so 
actions  under  such  responsibility  speak  still  louder. 

The  remaining  sixteen  of  the  "  thirty-nine,"  so  far  as 
I  have  discovered,  have  left  no  record  of  their  under- 
standing upon  the  direct  question  of  Federal  control  of 
slavery  in  the  Federal  Territories.  But  there  is  much 
reason  to  believe  that  their  understanding  upon  the  ques- 
tion would  not  have  appeared  different  from  that  of  their 
twenty-three  compeers,  had  it  been  manifested  at  all. 

For  the  purpose  of  adhering  rigidly  to  the  text,  I  have 
purposely  omitted  whatever  understanding  may  have  been 
manifested  by  any  person,  however  distinguished,  other 
than  the  thirty-nine  fathers  who  framed  the  original  Con- 
stitution; and  for  the  same  reason  I  have  also  omitted 
whatever  understanding  may   have  been   manifested   by 


ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE      159 

any  of  the  "  thirty-nine  "  even  on  any  other  phase  of  the 
general  question  of  slavery.  If  we  should  look  into  their 
acts  and  declarations  on  those  other  phases,  as  the  foreign 
slave  trade  and  the  morality  and  policy  of  slavery  gener- 
ally, it  would  appear  to  us  that  on  the  direct  question  of 
Federal  control  of  slavery  in  Federal  Territories,  the  six- 
teen, if  they  had  acted  at  all,  would  probably  have  acted 
just  as  the  twenty-three  did.  Among  that  sixteen  were 
several  of  the  most  noted  anti-slavery  men  of  those  times 
— as  Dr.  Franklin,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Gouverneur 
Morris — while  there  was  not  one  now  known  to  have 
been  otherwise,  unless  it  may  be  John  Rutledge,  of  South 
Carolina. 

The  sum  of  the  whole  is  that  of  our  thirty-nine  fathers 
who  framed  the  original  Constitution,  twenty-one — a 
clear  majority  of  the  whole — certainly  understood  that 
no  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority,  nor 
any  part  of  the  Constitution,  forbade  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  control  as  to  slavery  in  the  Federal  Territories; 
while  all  the  rest  had  probably  the  same  understanding. 
Such,  unquestionably,  was  the  understanding  of  our 
fathers  who  framed  the  original  Constitution;  and  the 
text  affirms  that  they  understood  the  question  "  better 
than  we." 

And  now,  if  they  would  listen — as  I  suppose  they  will 
not — I  would  address  a  few  words  to  the  Southern  people. 

I  would  say  to  them:  You  consider  yourselves  a  rea- 
sonable and  a  just  people;  and  I  consider  that  in  the 
general  qualities  of  reason  and  justice  you  are  not  inferior 
to  any  other  people.  Still,  when  you  speak  of  us  Repub- 
licans, you  do  so  only  to  denounce  us  as  reptiles,  or,  at 
the  best,  as  no  better  than  outlaws.  You  will  grant  a 
hearing  to  pirates  or  murderers,  but  nothing  like  it  to 
"  Black  Republicans."  In  all  your  contentions  with  one 
another,  each  of  you  deems  an  unconditional  condemna- 


160  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

tion  of  "  Black  Republicanism  "  as  the  first  thing  to  be 
attended  to.  Indeed,  such  condemnation  of  us  seems  to 
be  an  indispensable  prerequisite — license,  so  to  speak — 
among  you  to  be  admitted  or  permitted  to  speak  at  all. 
Now,  can  you  or  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  pause  and  to 
consider  whether  this  is  quite  just  to  us,  or  even  to  your- 
selves? Bring  forward  your  charges  and  specifications, 
and  then  be  patient  long  enough  to  hear  us  deny  or 
justify. 

You  say  we  are  sectional.  We  deny  it.  That  makes 
an  issue ;  and  the  burden  of  proof  is  upon  you.  You 
produce  your  proof;  and  what  is  it?  Why,  that  our 
party  has  no  existence  in  your  section — gets  no  votes  in 
your  section.  The  fact  is  substantially  true;  but  does  it 
prove  the  issue?  If  it  does,  then,  in  case  we  should, 
without  change  of  principle,  begin  to  get  votes  in  your 
section,  we  should  thereby  cease  to  be  sectional.  You  can- 
not escape  this  conclusion;  and  yet,  are  you  willing  to 
abide  by  it?  If  you  are,  you  will  probably  soon  find  that 
we  have  ceased  to  be  sectional,  for  we  shall  get  votes 
in  your  section  this  very  year.  You  will  then  begin  to 
discover,  as  the  truth  plainly  is,  that  your  proof  does  not 
touch  the  issue.  The  fact  that  we  get  no  votes  in  your 
section  is  a  fact  of  your  making,  and  not  of  ours.  And 
if  there  be  fault  in  that  fact,  that  fault  is  primarily  yours, 
and  remains  so  until  you  show  that  we  repel  you  by  some 
wrong  principle  or  practice.  If  we  do  repel  you  by  any 
wrong  principle  or  practice,  the  fault  is  ours;  but  this 
brings  you  to  where  you  ought  to  have  started — to  discus- 
sion of  the  right  or  wrong  of  our  principle.  If  our  prin- 
ciple, put  in  practice,  would  wrong  your  section  for  the 
benefit  of  ours,  or  for  any  other  object,  then  our  principle, 
and  we  with  it,  are  sectional,  and  are  justly  opposed  and 
denounced  as  such.  Meet  us,  then,  on  the  question  of 
whether  our  principle,  put  in  practice,  would  wrong  your 


ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE      161 

section;  and  so  meet  us  as  if  it  were  possible  that  some- 
thing may  be  said  on  our  side.  Do  you  accept  the  chal- 
lenge? No?  Then  you  really  believe  that  the  principle 
which  "  our  fathers  who  framed  the  Government  under 
which  we  live  "  thought  so  clearly  right  as  to  adopt  it,  and 
indorse  it  again  and  again,  upon  their  official  oaths,  is  in 
fact  so  clearly  wrong  as  to  demand  your  condemnation 
without  a  moment's  consideration. 

Again,  you  say  we  have  made  the  slavery  question 
more  prominent  than  it  formerly  was.  We  deny  it.  We 
admit  that  it  is  more  prominent,  but  we  deny  that  we 
made  it  so.  It  was  not  we,  but  you,  who  discarded  the 
old  policy  of  the  fathers.  We  resisted,  and  still  resist, 
your  innovation;  and  thence  comes  the  greater  promi- 
nence of  the  question.  Would  you  have  that  question 
reduced  to  its  former  proportions?  Go  back  to  that  old 
policy.  What  has  been  will  be  again,  under  the  same 
conditions.  If  you  would  have  the  peace  of  the  old 
times,  readopt  the  precepts  and  policy  of  the  old  times. 

You  charge  that  we  stir  up  insurrections  among  your 
slaves.  We  deny  it;  and  what  is  your  proof?  Harper's 
Ferry!  John  Brown! 3  John  Brown  was  no  Republican; 
and  you  have  failed  to  implicate  a  single  Republican  in 
his  Harper's  Ferry  enterprise.  If  any  member  of  our 
party  is  guilty  in  that  matter,  you  know  it,  or  you  do  not 
know  it.  If  you  do  know  it,  you  are  inexcusable  for  not 
designating  the  man  and  proving  the  fact.  If  you  do  not 
know  it,  you  are  inexcusable  for  asserting  it,  and  espe- 
cially for  persisting  in  the  assertion  after  you  have  tried 
and  failed  to  make  the  proof.  You  need  not  be  told  that 
persisting  in  a  charge  which  one  does  not  know  to  be  true, 
is  simply  malicious  slander. 

Some  of  you  admit  that  no  Republican  designedly  aided 
or  encouraged  the  Harper's  Ferry  affair,  but  still  insist 
that  our  doctrines  and  declarations  necessarily  lead  to  such 


1 62  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

results.  We  do  not  believe  it.  We  know  we  hold  no  doc- 
trine, and  make  no  declaration,  which  were  not  held  to 
and  made  by  "  our  fathers  who  framed  the  Government 
under  which  we  live."  You  never  dealt  fairly  by  us  in 
relation  to  this  affair.  When  it  occurred,  some  important 
state  elections  were  near  at  hand,  and  you  were  in  evi- 
dent glee  with  the  belief  that,  by  charging  the  blame  upon 
us,  you  could  get  an  advantage,  of  us  in  those  elections. 
The  elections  came,  and  your  expectations  were  not  quite 
fulfilled.  Every  Republican  knew  that,  as  to  himself  at 
least,  your  charge  was  a  slander,  and  he  was  not  much  in- 
clined by  it  to  cast  his  vote  in  your  favor.  Republican 
doctrines  and  declarations  are  accompanied  with  a  con- 
tinual protest  against  any  interference  whatever  with  your 
slaves,  or  with  you  about  your  slaves.  Surely,  this  does  not 
encourage  them  to  revolt.  True,  we  do,  in  common  with 
"  our  fathers  who  framed  the  Government  under  which 
we  live,"  declare  our  belief  that  slavery  is  wrong;  but 
the  slaves  do  not  hear  us  declare  even  this.  For  anything 
we  say  or  do,  the  slaves  would  scarcely  know  there  is  a 
Republican  party.  I  believe  they  would  not,  in  fact,  gen- 
erally know  it  but  for  your  misrepresentations  of  us  in 
their  hearing.  In  your  political  contests  among  your- 
selves, each  faction  charges  the  other  with  sympathy  with 
Black  Republicanism;  and  then,  to  give  point  to  the 
charges,  defines  Black  Republicanism  to  simply  be  insur- 
rection, blood,  and  thunder  among  the  slaves. 

John  Brown's  effort  was  peculiar.  It  was  not  a  slave 
insurrection.  It  was  an  attempt  by  white  men  to  get  up  a 
revolt  among  slaves,  in  which  the  slaves  refused  to  par- 
ticipate. In  fact,  it  was  so  absurd  that  the  slaves,  with 
all  their  ignorance,  saw  plainly  enough  it  could  not  suc- 
ceed. That  affair,  in  its  philosophy,  corresponds  with 
the  many  attempts,  related  in  history,  at  the  assassination 
of  kings  and  emperors.     An  enthusiast  broods  over  the 


ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE      163 

oppression  of  a  people  till  he  fancies  himself  commissioned 
by  Heaven  to  liberate  them.  He  ventures  the  attempt, 
which  ends  in  little  else  than  in  his  own  execution. 
Orsini's  attempt  on  Louis  Napoleon,4  and  John  Browns 
attempt  at  Harper's  Ferry,  were,  in  their  philosophy,  pre- 
cisely the  same.  The  eagerness  to  cast  blame  on  old 
England  in  the  one  case,  and  on  New  England  in  the 
other,  does  not  disprove  the  sameness  of  the  two  things. 

And  how  much  would  it  avail  you,  if  you  could,  by  the 
use  of  John  Brown,  Helper's  book,5  and  the  like,  break 
up  the  Republican  organization?  Human  action  can  be 
modified  to  some  extent,  but  human  nature  cannot  be 
changed.  There  is  a  judgment  and  a  feeling  against 
slavery  in  this  nation,  which  cast  at  least  a  million  and  a 
half  of  votes.  You  cannot  destroy  that  judgment  and 
feeling — that  sentiment — by  breaking  up  the  political  or- 
ganization which  rallies  around  it.  You  can  scarcely 
scatter  and  disperse  an  army  which  has  been  formed  into 
order  in  the  face  of  your  heaviest  fire;  but  if  you  could, 
how  much  would  you  gain  by  forcing  the  sentiment  which 
created  it  out  of  the  peaceful  channel  of  the  ballot  box 
into  some  other  channel?  What  would  that  other  chan- 
nel probably  be?  Would  the  number  of  John  Browns 
be  lessened  or  enlarged  by  the  operation? 

But  you  will  break  up  the  Union  rather  than  submit 
to  a  denial  of  your  constitutional  rights. 

That  has  a  somewhat  reckless  sound;  but  it  would  be 
palliated,  if  not  fully  justified,  were  we  proposing,  by 
the  mere  force  of  numbers,  to  deprive  you  of  some  right 
plainly  written  down  in  the  Constitution.  But  we  are 
proposing  no  such  thing. 

When  you  make  these  declarations  you  have  a  specific 
and  well-understood  allusion  to  an  assumed  constitutional 
right  of  yours  to  take  slaves  into  the  Federal  Territories, 
and  to  hold  them  there  as  property.     But  no  such  right 


1 64  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

is  specifically  written  in  the  Constitution.  That  instru- 
ment is  literally  silent  about  any  such  right.  We  on  the 
contrary,  deny  that  such  a  right  has  any  existence  in  the 
Constitution,  even  by  implication. 

Your  purpose,  then,  plainly  stated,  is  that  you  will  de- 
stroy the  Government,  unless  you  be  allowed  to  construe 
and  force  the  Constitution  as  you  please,  on  all  points  in 
dispute  between  you  and  us.  You  will  rule  or  ruin  in  all 
events. 

This,  plainly  stated,  is  your  language.  Perhaps  you  will 
say  the  Supreme  Court  has  decided  the  disputed  consti- 
tutional question  in  your  favor.  Not  quite  so.  But 
waiving  the  lawyer's  distinction  between  dictum  and  de- 
cision, the  court  has  decided  the  question  for  you  in  a  sort 
of  way.  The  court  has  substantially  said,  it  is  your  con- 
stitutional right  to  take  slaves  into  the  Federal  Terri- 
tories, and  to  hold  them  there  as  property. 

And  then  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  "  our  fathers  who 
framed  the  Government  under  which  we  live  " — the  men 
who  made  the  Constitution — decided  this  same  constitu- 
tional question  in  our  favor  long  ago:  decided  it  without 
a  division  among  themselves  when  making  the  decision ; 
without  division  among  themselves  about  the  meaning 
of  it  after  it  was  made,  and,  so  far  as  any  evidence 
is  left,  without  basing  it  upon  any  mistaken  statement 
of  facts. 

Under  all  these  circumstances  do  you  really  feel 
yourselves  justified  to  break  up  this  government  unless 
such  a  court  decision  as  yours  is  shall  be  at  once  sub- 
mitted to  as  a  conclusive  and  final  rule  of  political  action  ? 
But  you  will  not  abide  the  election  of  a  Republican 
President!  In  that  supposed  event,  you  say,  you  will 
destroy  the  Union;  and  then,  you  say,  the  great  crime 
of  having  destroyed  it  will  be  upon  us !  That  is  cool.  A 
highwayman  holds  a  pistol  to  my  ear,  and  mutters  through 


ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE      165 

his  teeth,  "  Stand  and  deliver,   or  I  shall  kill  you,  and 
you  will  be  a  murderer !  " 

To  be  sure,  what  the  robber  demanded  of  me — my 
money — was  my  own;  and  I  had  a  clear  right  to  keep 
it;  but  it  was  no  more  my  own  than  my  vote  is  my 
own ;  and  the  threat  of  death  to  me,  to  extort  my  money, 
and  the  threat  of  destruction  to  the  Union,  to  extort  nrg 
vote,  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  in  principle. 

A  few  words  now  to  Republicans.  It  is  exceedingly 
desirable  that  all  parts  of  this  great  Confederacy  snau 
be  at  peace,  and  in  harmony  one  with  another.  Let.  us 
Republicans  do  our  part  to  have  it  so.  Eve'tl  though 
much  provoked,  let  us  do  nothing  through  r,assion  and 
ill  temper.  Even  though  the  Southern  peo  ple  wjU  not 
so  much  as  listen  to  us,  let  us  calmly  consider  their 
demands,  and  yield  to  them  if,  in  our  deT|1Derate  view  of 
our  duty,  we  possibly  can.  Judging  br  au  they  say  and 
do.  and  by  the  subject  and  nature  of  their  controversy 
with  us,  let  us  determine,  if  we  cr ^  wnat  will  satisfy 
them. 

Will  they  be  satisfied  if  the  Territories  be  uncondition- 
ally surrendered  to  them?  We  know  they  will  not.  In 
all  their  present  complaints  against  us,  the  Territories  are 
scarcely  mentioned.  Invasions  and  insurrections  are  the 
rage  now.  Will  it  satisfy  \hern  if  in  the  future  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  invasions  and  insurrections  ?  We  know 
it  will  not.  We  so  know,  because  we  know  we  never  had 
anything  to  do  with  invasions  and  insurrections;  and  yet 
this  total  abstaining  does  not  exempt  us  from  the  charge 
and  the  denunciation. 

The  question  recurs,  What  will  satisfy  them?  Simply 
this:  we  must  not  only  let  them  alone,  but  we  must  some- 
how convince  them  that  we  do  let  them  alone.  This,  we 
know  by  experience,  is  no  easy  task.  We  have  been  so 
trying  to  convince,  them  from  the  very  beginning  of  our 


166  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

organization,  but  with  no  success.  In  all  our  platforms 
and  speeches  we  have  constantly  protested  our  purpose  to 
let  them  alone;  but  this  has  had  no  tendency  to  convince 
them.  Alike  unavailing  to  convince  them  is  the  fact  that 
they  have  never  detected  a  man  of  us  in  any  attempt  to 
disturb  them. 

These  natural  and  apparently  adequate  means  all  fail- 
ing, what  will  convince  them  ?  This,  and  this  only :  cease 
to  call  slavery  ivrong,  and  join  them  in  calling  it  right. 
And  this  must  be  done  thoroughly — done  in  acts  as  well 
as  in  words.  Silence  will  not  be  tolerated — we  must  place 
ourselves  avowedly  with  them.  Senator  Douglas's  new 
sedition  law  must  be  enacted  and  enforced,  suppressing 
all  declarations  that  slavery  is  wrong,  whether  made  in 
politics,  in  presses,  in  pulpits,  or  in  private.  We  must 
arrest  and  return  their  fugitive  slaves  with  greedy  pleasure. 
We  must  pull  down  our  Free-State  constitutions.  The 
whole  atmosphere  must  be  disinfected  from  all  taint  of 
opposition  to  slavery,  before  they  will  cease  to  believe  that 
all  their  troubles  proceed  from  us. 

I  am  quite  aware  they  do  not  state  their  case  pre- 
cisely in  this  way.  Most  of  them  would  probably  say 
to  us,  "  Let  us  alone;  do  nothing  to  us,  and  say  what 
you  please  about  slavery."  But  we  do  let  them  alone, — - 
have  never  disturbed  them, — so  that,  after  all,  it  is  what 
we  say  which  dissatisfies  them.  They  will  continue  to 
accuse  us  of  doing,  until  we  cease  saying. 

I  am  also  aware  they  have  not  as  yet  in  terms  de- 
manded the  overthrow  of  our  Free-State  constitutions. 
Yet  those  constitutions  declare  the  wrong  of  slavery 
with  more  solemn  emphasis  than  do  all  other  sayings 
against  it;  and  when  all  these  other  sayings  shall  have 
been  silenced,  the  overthrow  of  these  constitutions  will 
be  demanded,  and  nothing  be  left  to  resist  the  demand. 
It  is  nothing  to  the  contrary  that  they  do  not  demand 


- 


ADDRESS  AT  COOPER  INSTITUTE      167 

the  whole  of  this  just  now.  Demanding  what  they  do, 
and  for  the  reason  they  do,  they  can  voluntarily  stop 
nowhere  short  of  this  consummation.  Holding,  as  they 
do,  that  slavery  is  morally  right  and  socially  elevating, 
they  cannot  cease  to  demand  a  full  national  recognition 
of  it  as  a  legal  right  and  a  social  blessing. 

Nor  can  we  justifiably  withhold  this  on  any  ground 
save  our  conviction  that  slavery  is  wrong.  If  slavery 
is  right,  all  words,  acts,  laws,  and  constitutions  against 
it  are  themselves  wrong,  and  should  be  silenced  and 
swept  away.  If  it  is  right,  we  cannot  justly  object  to 
its  nationality — its  universality;  if  it  is  wrong  they  can- 
not justly  insist  upon  its  extension — its  enlargement.  All 
they  ask  we  could  readily  grant,  if  we  thought  slavery 
right;  all  we  ask  they  could  as  readily  grant,  if  they 
thought  it  wrong.  Their  thinking  it  right  and  our  think- 
ing it  wrong  is  the  precise  fact  upon  which  depends  the 
whole  controversy.  Thinking  it  right,  as  they  do,  they 
are  not  to  blame  for  desiring  its  full  recognition  as  being 
right;  but  thinking  it  wrong,  as  we  do,  can  we  yield  to 
them?  Can  we  cast  our  votes  with  their  view,  and 
against  our  own?  In  view  of  our  moral,  social,  and 
political  responsibilities,  can  we  do  this? 

Wrong  as  we  think  slavery  is,  we  can  yet  afford  to  let 
it  alone  where  it  is,  because  that  much  is  due  to  the 
necessity  arising  from  its  actual  presence  in  the  nation; 
but  can  we,  while  our  votes  will  prevent  it,  allow  it  to 
spread  into  the  national  Territories,  and  to  overrun  us 
here  in  these  free  States?  If  our  sense  of  duty  forbids t 
this,  then  let  us  stand  by  our  duty  fearlessly  and  effec-1 
tively.  Let  us  be  diverted  by  none  of  those  sophistical 
controversies  wherewith  we  are  so  industriously  plied  and 
belabored, — contrivances  such  as  groping  from  some  mid- 
dle ground  between  the  right  and  the  wrong,  vain  as  the 
search  for  a  man  who  should  be  neither  a  living  man  nor 


1 68  Abraham  Lincoln 

a  dead  man ;  such  as  a  policy  of  "  don't  care  "  on  a  ques- 
tion about  which  all  true  men  do  care;  such  as  Union 
appeals  beseeching  true  Union  men  to  yield  to  Disunion- 
ists,  reversing  the  divine  rule  and  calling  not  the  sinners 
but  the  righteous  to  repentance;  such  as  invocations  to 
Washington,  imploring  men  to  unsay  what  Washington 
said  and  undo  what  Washington  did. 

Neither  let  us  be  slandered  from  our  duty  by  false  ac- 
cusations against  us>  nor  frightened  from  it  by  menaces  of 
destruction  to  the  government,  nor  of  dungeons  to  our- 
selves. Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might,  and  in 
that  faith  let  us  to  the  end  dare  to  do  our  duty  as  we 
understand  it. 

Compare  Lincoln's  style  in  this  speech  with  the  style  of  his 
shorter  masterpieces. 

Discuss  the  argumentative  and  persuasive  value  of  the  phrase 
"  our  fathers  who  framed  the  government  under  which  we  live." 

What  evidence  is  furnished  by  this  speech  to  show  that  Lin- 
coln was  a  shrewd  debater? 

What  effect  would  you  expect  this  speech  to  have  on  an  audi- 
ence in  New  York  City  in  Lincoln's  day? 

What  is  the  significance  of  the  expression  "  black  Repub- 
lican M  ? 

Compare  the  "  opposition "  against  which  Lincoln  contended 
with  that  encountered  by  earlier  American  orators. 

What  circumstances  in  the  situation  entitle  Lincoln  to  be 
called  heroic  because  of  his  delivery  of  this  speech? 

In  what  respects  is  the  question  discussed  by  Lincoln  in  this 
speech  the  same  as  that  discussed  by  Webster  in  his  Reply  to 
Hayne? 

What  were  Lincoln's  views  concerning  the  constitutionality 
of  slavery? 

In  what  respects  was  Lincoln,  in  this  speech,  conservative  and 
in  what  respects  revolutionary? 

How  did  this  speech  assist  in  extending  and  enlarging  Amer- 
ica's conception  of  democracy? 


BRECKENRIDGE-BAKER  DEBATE  ON  THE 
WAR 

August  i,  1861 

This  debate,  it  is  said,  produced  the  most  dramatic 
scene  that  ever  occurred  in  Congress.  It  took  place  in 
a  period  of  deepest  depression  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War,  when  the  Confederacy  was  most  defiant, 
and  most  successful.  Although  disaster  had  followed 
disappointment  and  the  rebel  army  was  but  twenty 
miles  from  Washington,  the  war  was  being  fought  in 
an  aimless  and  half-hearted  way,  for  men  with  South- 
ern sympathies  were  still  powerful  in  Congress. 

Such  was  the  condition  on  August  1,  1861,  when 
there  was  taken  up  for  discussion  the  Insurrection  and 
Sedition  Bill,  an  act  that  provided  for  martial  instead 
of  civil  law  in  such  districts  as  were  designated  by 
the  President  as  in  a  state  of  insurrection.  On  the 
day  set  for  the  debate,  when  it  was  learned  that 
Senator  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky  was  about  to  de- 
liver in  opposition  to  this  bill  the  speech  he  had  been 
preparing,  the  Republican  senators  conferred  as  who 
should  be  selected  to  make  the  reply.  They  agreed, 
that  the  task  should  be  given  to  Baker,  who  at  the  tinier 
was  drilling  his  regiment  at  the  foot  of  Meridan  JM1',, 
about  a  mile  from  the  Senate  Chamber. 

On  receiving  the  summons,  Baker  sprang,  a/ft  once- 
into  the  saddle  and  without  change  of  clotJ%q&  rode  to> 
the  Capitol.  In  his  colonel's  uniform  ]%$>  entered  the 
eastern  door  while  Breckenridge   was^  still  speaking^ 

169 


170  JOHN  C.  BRECKENRIDGE 

Advancing  to  his  seat,  he  laid  his  sword  across  his 
desk  and  listened  restlessly  to  the  speech.  As  soon  as 
the  Senator  from  Kentucky  had  concluded,  he  sprang 
to  the  floor  his  face  aglow  with  excitement. 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  impromptu  speech,  he  re- 
mounted his  horse  and  rode  back  to  his  regiment.  He 
died  heroically  a  few  weeks  later  at  the  battle  of 
Ball's  Bluff.  Breckenridge  became  a  major-general  in 
the  Confederate  army,  and  finally  was  made  secretary 
of  war  for  the  Confederate  States. 


DEBATE  ON  THE  WAR 

John  C.  Breckenridge 

Mr.  President:  Gentlemen  talk  about  the  Union  as  if 
it  was  an  end  instead  of  a  means.  They  talk  about  it  as  if 
it  was  the  Union  of  these  states  which  alone  had  brought 
into  life  the  principles  of  public  and  of  personal  liberty. 
Sir,  they  existed  before,  and  they  may  survive  it.  Take 
care  that  in  destroying  one  idea  you  do  not  destroy  not 
only  the  Constitution  of  your  country,  but  sever  what  re- 
mains of  the  Federal  Union.  These  external  and  sacred 
principles  of  public  men  and  of  personal  liberty,  which 
lived  before  the  Union  and  will  live  forever  and  ever 
somewhere,  must  be  respected;  they  cannot  with  im- 
punity be  overthrown;  and  if  you  force  the  people  to  the 
issue  between  any  form  of  government  and  these  priceless 
principles,  that  form  of  government  will  perish ;  they  will 
tear  it  asunder  as  the  irrepressible  forces  of  nature  rend 
whatever  opposes  them. 

Mr.  President,  we  are  on  the  wrong  tack;  we  have  been 
from  the  beginning.    The  people  begin  to  see  it.    Here  we 


DEBATE  ON  THE  WAR  171 

have  been  hurling  gallant  fellows  on  to  death,  and  the 
blood  of  Americans  has  been  shed — for  what  ?  They  have 
shown  their  prowess,  respectively — that  which  belongs  to 
the  race — and  shown  it  like  men.  But  for  what  have  the 
United  States  soldiers,  according  to  the  exposition  we 
have  here  to-day,  been  shedding  their  blood  and  display- 
ing their  dauntless  courage?  It  has  been  to  carry  out 
principles  that  three-fourths  of  them  abhor ;  for  the  prin- 
ciples contained  in  this  bill  and  continually  avowed  on 
the  floor  of  the  Senate,  are  not  shared,  I  venture  to  say, 
by  one-fourth  of  the  army. 

I  have  said,  sir,  that  we  are  on  the  wrong  tack.  Noth- 
ing but  ruin,  utter  ruin,  to  the  North,  to  the  South,  to 
the  East,  to  the  West  will  follow  the  prosecution  of  this 
contest.  You  may  look  forward  to  countless  treasures  all 
spent  for  the  purpose  of  desolating  and  ravaging  this  con- 
tinent; at  the  end  leaving  us  just  where  we  are  now;  or  if 
the  forces  of  the  United  States  are  successful  in  ravaging 
the  whole  South,  what  on  earth  will  be  done  with  it  after 
that  is  accomplished  ?  Are  not  gentlemen  now  perfectly 
satisfied  that  they  have  mistaken  a  people  for  a  faction? 
Are  they  not  perfectly  satisfied  that  to  accomplish  their 
object,  it  is  necessary  to  subjugate  to  conquer — ay,  to 
exterminate — nearly  ten  millions  of  people?  Do  you  not 
know  it?  Does  not  everybody  know  it?  Does  not  the 
world  know  it  ? 1  Let  us  pause,  and  let  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  respond  to  the  rising  feeling  all  over 
this  land  in  favor  of  peace.2  War  is  separation;  in  the 
language  of  an  eminent  gentleman  now  no  more,  it  is  dis- 
union, eternal  and  final  disunion.  We  have  separation 
now;  it  is  only  made  worse  by  war,  and  an  utter  extinc- 
tion 6x  all  those  sentiments  of  common  interest  and  feeling 
which  might  lead  to  political  reunion  founded  upon  con- 
sent and  upon  a  conviction  of  its  advantages.  Let  the 
war  go  on,  however,  and  soon  in  addition  to  the  moans 


172  JOHN  C.  BRECKENRIDGE 

of  widows  and  orphans  all  over  this  land,  you  will  hear 
the  cry  of  distress  from  those  who  want  food  and  the 
comforts  of  life.  The  people  will  be  unable  to  pay  the 
grinding  taxes  which  a  fanatical  spirit  will  attempt  to 
impose  upon  them.  Nay,  more,  sir;  you  will  see  further 
separation.  The  Pacific  slope  now,  doubtless,  is  devoted 
to  the  union  of  states.  Let  this  war  go  on  till  they  find 
the  burdens  of  taxation  greater  than  the  burdens  of  a 
separate  condition,  and  they  will  assert  it.  Let  the  war 
;go  on  until  they  see  the  beautiful  features  of  the  old 
Confederacy  beaten  out  of  shape  and  comeliness  by  the 
Ibrutalizing  hand  of  war,  and  they  will  turn  aside  in  dis- 
;gust  from  the  sickening  spectacle,  and  become  a  separate 
nation.  Fight  twelve  months  longer,  and  the  already 
i opening  differences  that  you  see  between  New  England 
•and  the  great  Northwest  will  develop  themselves.  You 
have  two  confederacies  now.  Fight,  twelve  months  and 
you  will  have  three;  twelve  months  longer,  and  you  will 
have  four. 

I  will  not  enlarge  upon  it,  sir.  I  am  quite  aware  that 
all  I  say  is  received  with  a  sneer  of  incredulity  3  by  the 
gentlemen  who  represent  the  far  Northeast;  but  let  the 
future  determine  who  was  right  and  who  was  wrong. 
We  are  making  our  record  here;  I,  my  humble  one,  amid 
tthe  sneers  and  aversion  of  nearly  all  who  surround  me, 
;giving  my  votes,  and  uttering  my  utterances  according  to 
imy  convictions,  with  but  few  approving  voices,  and  sur- 
rounded by  scowls.  The  time  will  soon  come,  Senators 
when  history  will  put  her  final  seal  upon  these  proceed- 
ings, and  if  my  name  shall  be  recorded  there,  going  along 
with  yours  as  an  actor  in  these  scenes,  I  am  willing  to 
abide,    fearlessly,   her   final   judgment. 


DEBATE  ON  THE  WAR  173 

Edward  D,  Baker 

Mr.  President:  It  has  not  been  my  fortune  to  participate 
in  at  any  length,  indeed,  nor  to  hear  very  much  of,  the 
discussion  which  has  been  going  on — more,  I  think,  in  the 
hands  of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  than  anybody  else — 
upon  all  the  propositions  connected  with  this  war;  and  as 
I  really  feel  as  sincerely  as  he  can  an  earnest  desire  to  pre- 
serve the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  for  everybody, 
South  as  well  as  North,  I  have  listened  for  some  little 
time  past  to  what  he  has  said  with  an  earnest  desire  to 
apprehend  the  point  of  his  objection  to  this  particular  bill. 
Mr.  President^  the  honorable  senator  says  there  is  a 
state  of  war.  The  Senator  from  Vermont4  agrees  with 
him ;  or  rather,  he  agrees  with  the  Senator  f rorn  Vermont 
in  that.  What  then?  There  fe  a  state  of  public  war; 
none  the  less  war  because  ft  is  urged  from  the  other  side; 
not  the  less  war  because  it  is  unjust;  not  the  less  war 
because  it  is  a  war  of  insurrection  and  rebellion.  It  is 
still  war;  and  I  am  willing  to  say  it  is  public  war, — public 
as  contra-distinguished  from  private  war.  What  then? 
Shall  we  carry  that  war  on?  Is  it  his  duty  as  a  senator 
to  carry  it  on?  If  so,  how?  By  armies  under  command  1 
by  military  organization  and  authority,  advancing  to  sup- 
press  insurrection  and  rebellion.  Is  that  wrongs?  Is  that 
unconstitutional?  Are  we  not  bound;  to  do,  with  who- 
ever levies  war  against  u&,  as  we  would'  do  if  he  were  ai 
foreigner?  There  is  no;  distinction  as  to)  the  mode  off 
carrying.  <swr  wair;;  we  carry  orr  war  against  an  advancing 
arony  jjusfc;  the-  same  whether  it  be  from  Russia  or  from: 
South  Carolina.  Will  the  honorable  senator  tell  me  it  is 
our  duty  to>  stay  here,  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  enemy 
seeking  to  advance  upon  us  every  hour,  and  talk  about 
nice  questions  of  constitutional  construction  as  to  whether 
it  is  war  or  merely  insurrection?     No,  sir.     It  is  our 


174  EDWARD  D.  BAKER 

duty  to  advance,  if  we  can;  to  suppress  insurrection;  to 
put  down  rebellion;  to  dissipate  the  rising;  to  scatter  the 
enemy;  and  when  we  have  done  so,  to  preserve,  in  the 
terms  of  the  bill,  the  liberty,  lives,  and  property  of  the 
people  of  the  country,  by  just  and  fair  police  regulations. 

I  agree  that  we  ought  to  do  all  that  we  can  to  limit,  to 
restrain,  to  fetter  the  abuse  of  military  power.  Bayonets 
are  at  best  illogical  arguments.  I  am  not  willing,  ex- 
cept as  a  case  of  sheerest  necessity,  ever  to  permit  a  mili- 
tary commander  to  exercise  authority  over  life,  liberty,  and 
property.  But,  sir,  it  is  part  of  the  law  of  war;  you 
cannot  carry  in  the  rear  of  your  army  your  courts;  you 
cannot  organize  juries;  you  cannot  have  trials  according 
to  the  forms  and  ceremonial  of  the  common  law  amid  the 
clangor  of  arms;  and  somebody  must  enforce  police  regu- 
lations in  a  conquered  or  occupied  district.  I  ask  the 
Senator  from  Kentucky  again  respectfully,  is  that  uncon- 
stitutional; or  if  in  the  nature  of  war  it  must  exist,  even 
if  there  be  no  law  passed  by  us  to  allow  it,  is  it  uncon- 
stitutional to  regulate  it?  That  is  the  question,  to  which 
I  do  not  think  he  will  make  clear  and  distinct  reply. 

I  confess,  Mr.  President,  that  I  would  not  have  pre- 
dicted three  weeks  ago  the  disasters  which  have  overtaken 
our  arms;  and  I  do  not  think  (if  I  were  to  predict  now) 
that  six  months  hence  the  senator  will  indulge  in  the  same 
tone  of  prediction  which  is  his  favorite  key  now.  I  would 
ask  him  what  would  you  have  us  do  now — a  Confederate 
army  within  twenty  miles  of  us,  advancing  or  threatening 
to  advance,  to  overwhelm  our  government;  to  shake  the 
pillars  of  the  Union;  to  bring  it  round  your  head,  if  you 
stay  here,  in  ruins?  Are  we  to  stop  and  talk  about  an 
uprising  sentiment  in  the  North  against  the  war?  Are  we 
to  predict  evil,  and  retire  from  what  we  predict?  Is  it 
not  the  manly  part  to  go  on  as  we  have  begun,  to  raise 
money,  and  levy  armies,  to  organize  them,  to  prepare  to 


DEBATE  ON  THE  WAR  175 

advance;  when  we  do  advance,  to  regulate  that  advance 
by  all  the  laws  and  regulations  that  civilization  and 
humanity  will  allow  in  time  of  battle?  Can  we  do  any- 
thing more  ?  To  talk  to  us  about  stopping  is  idle ;  we  will 
never  stop.  Will  the  senator  yield  to  rebellion?  Will 
he  shrink  from  armed  insurrection?  Will  his  state 
justify  it?  Will  its  better  public  opinion  allow  it?  Shall 
we  send  a  flag  of  truce?  What  would  he  have?  Or 
would  he  conduct  this  war  so  feebly,  that  the  whole  world 
would  smile  at  us  in  derision?  What  would  he  have? 
These  speeches  of  his,  sown  broadcast  over  the  land,  what 
clear  distinct  meaning  have  they?  Are  they  not  intended 
for  disorganization  in  our  very  midst?  Are  they  not 
intended  to  dull  our  weapons?  Are  they  not  intended  to 
destroy  our  zeal?  Are  they  not  intended  to  animate  our 
enemies?  Sir,  are  they  not  words  of  brilliant,  polished 
treason,  even  in  the  very  Capitol  of  the  Confederacy  ? 5 

I  tell  the  senator  that  his  predictions,  sometimes  for 
the  South,  sometimes  for  the  Middle  States,  sometimes 
for  the  Northeast,  and  then  wandering  away  in  airy 
visions  out  to  the  far  Pacific,  about  the  dread  of  our 
people,  as  for  loss  of  blood  and  treasure,  provoking  them 
to  disloyalty,  are  false  in  sentiment,  false  in  fact,  and 
false  in  loyalty.  The  Senator  from  Kentucky  is  mistaken 
in  them  all.  Five  hundred  million  dollars.  What  then? 
Great  Britain  gave  more  than  two  thousand  million  in 
the  great  battle  for  constitutional  liberty  which  she  led 
at  one  time  almost  single-handed  against  the  world. 
Five  hundred  thousand  men.  What  then?  We  have 
them ;  they  are  ours ;  they  are  the  children  of  the  country. 
They  belong  to  the  whole  country;  they  are  our  sons;  our 
kinsmen ;  and  there  are  many  of  us  who  will  give  them  all 
up  before  we  will  abate  one  word  of  our  just  demand,  or 
retreat  one  inch  from  the  line  which  divides  right  from 
Tvrong. 


176  EDWARD  D.  BAKER 

Sir,  it  is  not  a  question  of  men  or  of  money  in  that 
sense.  All  the  money,  all  the  men,  are,  in  our  judgment, 
well  bestowed  in  such  a  cause.  When  we  give  them,  we 
know  their  value.  Knowing  their  value  well,6  we  give 
them  with  the  more  pride  and  the  more  joy.  Sir,  how 
can  we  retreat?  Sir,  how  can  we  make  peace?  Who 
shall  treat?  What  commissioners?  Who  would  go? 
Upon  what  terms?  Where  is  to  be  your  boundary  line? 
Where  the  end  of  the  principles  we  shall  have 
to  give  up?  What  will  become  of  our  consti- 
tutional government?  What  will  become  of  pub- 
lic liberty?  What  of  past  glories?  What  of 
future  hopes?  Shall  we  sink  into  the  insignificance  of 
the  grave — a  degraded,  defeated,  emasculated  people, 
frightened  by  the  results  of  one  battle,  and  scared  at 
the  visions  raised  upon  this  floor  by  the  imagination  of  the 
Senator  from  Kentucky?  No,  sir;  a  thousand  times,  no, 
sir.  We  will  rally — if,  indeed,  our  words  be  necessary — 
we  will  rally  the  people,  the  loyal  people,  of  the  whole 
country.  They  will  pour  forth  their  treasure,  their  money, 
their  men,  without  stint,  without  measure.  The  most 
peaceable  man  in  this  body  may  stamp  his  foot  upon  this 
Senate  Chamber  floor,  as  of  old  a  warrior  and  a  senator 
did,  and  from  that  single  stamp  there  will  spring  forth 
armed  legions. 

Shall  one  battle  determine  the  fate  of  an  empire?  or 
the  loss  of  one  thousand  men  or  twenty  thousand,  or 
$100,000,000  or  $500,000,000?  In  a  year's  peace,  in 
ten  years  at  most,  of  peaceful  progress  we  can  restore 
them  all.  There  will  be  some  graves  reeking  with  blood 
watered  by  the  tears  of  affection.  There  will  be  some 
privation;  there  will  be  some  loss  of  luxury;  there  will 
be  somewhat  more  need  for  labor  to  procure  the  neces- 
saries of  life.  When  that  is  said,  all  is  said.  If  we  have 
the  country,  the  whole  country,  the  Union,  the  Constitu- 


DEBATE  ON  THE  WAR  177 

tion,  free  government — with  these  there  will  return  all 
the  blessings  of  well-ordered  civilization;  the  path  of  the 
country  will  be  a  career  of  greatness  and  of  glory  such  as, 
in  the  olden  time,  our  fathers  saw  in  the  dim  visions  of 
years  yet  to  come,  and  such  as  would  have  been  ours  to- 
day, if  it  had  not  been  for  the  treason  for  which  the 
senator  too  often  seeks  to  apologize. 

Why  did  Breckenridge's  speech  arouse  sneers  of  incredulity? 

Do  you  think  that  Breckenridge  was  sincere  in  his  appeal  to 
the  future? 

What  was  the  political  advantage  that  Breckenridge  hoped  to 
attain  by  remaining  a  member  of  the  Federal   Congress? 

Who  during  recent  war  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Brecken- 
ridge and  acted  his  part? 

To  what  extent  was  Baker's  dramatic  entrance  responsible 
for  the   effect  of  his  speech? 

Comment  on  Baker's  transition  from  polite  questioning  to 
impassioned    denunciation. 

Comment  on  the  argumentative  and  persuasive  effect  of 
Baker's  failure  to  dispute  his  opponent's  estimate  of  loss  of 
men    and    property. 

Compare  the  motives  appealed  to  by  Breckenridge  with  those 
to  which   Baker   appealed. 

Contrast  the  style  of  the  two  men.  Is  it  the  result  of  charac- 
ter  and  training? 

What  seems  to  be  Baker's  controlling  purpose  in  delivering 
this  speech? 


THE  TRENT  AFFAIR 

December  4,    1861 

When  war  was  declared  in  America  the  sympathy  of 
the  ruling  and  influential  classes  of  people  in  England 
was  largely  with  the  South.  The  aristocracy  of 
Britain  thought  they  saw  in  the  fight  the  struggle  of 
conservative  and  established  government  against  the 
demagogic  champions  of  democracy.  In  the  House  of 
Commons,  Mr.  Roebuck,  a  member  for  Sheffield,  had 
brought  forward  a  motion  in  favor  of  the  recognition 
of  the  South.  He  said :  "  The  men  of  the  South  are 
Englishmen;  but  the  army  of  the  North  is  composed 
of  the  scum  of  Europe."  Even  those  who  possessed 
democratic  sentiments  and  who  were  opposed  to  sla- 
very were  slow  to  show  their  sympathy  with  the 
North,  for  it  was  maintained  that  the  success  of  the 
Confederacy  would  promote  England's  economic  wel- 
fare. 

While  public  sentiment  in  Great  Britain  was  in  this 
condition  an  event  occurred  in  November,  1861,  that 
nearly  led  to  war  between  England  and  the  United 
States.  The  Confederate  government  sent  two  envoys 
from  Havana  to  England  and  France  in  the  British 
mail  steamer  Trait.  The  ship  was  stopped  by  the 
U.  S.  sloop  of  war  San  Jacinto,  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Wilkes,  and  the  envoys  were  seized  and  im- 
prisoned in  a  fort  in  Boston  harbor.  The  affair  raised 
a  storm  of  indignation  in  England.  Lord  Russell,  the 
Foreign  Secretary,  demanded  from  Secretary  Seward 
the  immediate  release  of  the  prisoners. 

178 


THE  TRENT  AFFAIR  179 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  while  meetings 
advocating  war  were  being  held  in  many  places  in 
England,  Bright  delivered  this  address  at  Rochdale  on 
December  4,  1861.  He  succeeded  in  stemming  the 
tide  of  exasperation  and  in  inducing  the  Engish  na- 
tion to  consider  the  affair  calmly  and  sympathetically. 
As  he  predicted  in  his  speech,  the  American  govern- 
ment acknowledged  the  justice  of  the  English  claim 
and  released  the  prisoners.  But  even  then  war  was 
narrowly  averted,  for,  Lord  Palmerston,  the  Prime 
Minister,  was  inclined  to  follow  up  the  matter.  He 
was  finally  restrained  through  the  influence  of  Queen 
Victoria  and  by  the  public  sentiment  aroused  by  Bright. 
England  never  recognized  the  Southern  Confederacy; 
the  most  that  the  South  ever  obtained  was  the  acknowl- 
edgement of  its  rights  as  a  belligerent. 


THE  TRENT  AFFAIR 

John  Bright 

Eighty-five  years  ago,  at  the  time  when  some  of  our 
oldest  townsmen  were  very  little  children,  there  were,  on 
the  North  American  continent,  colonies,  mainly  of  Eng- 
lishmen, containing  about  three  millions  of  souls.  These 
colonies  we  have  seen  a  year  ago  constituting  the 
United  States  of  North  America,  and  compris- 
ing a  population  of  no  less  than  thirty  millions  of 
souls.  We  know  that  in  agriculture  and  manu- 
factures, with  the  exception  of  this  kingdom,  there 
is  no  country  in  the  world  which  in  these  arts 
may  be  placed  in  advance  of  the  United  States.  With 
regard  to  inventions,  I  believe,  within  the  last  thirty 
years,  we  have  received  more  useful  inventions  from  the 


i&o  JOHN  BRIGHT 

United  States  than  from  all  the  other  countries  of  the 
earth.  In  that  country  there  are  probably  ten  times  as 
many  miles  of  telegraph  as  there  are  in  this  country,  and 
there  are  at  least  five  or  six  times  as  many  miles  of  rail- 
way. The  tonnage  of  its  shipping  is  at  least  equal  to  ours, 
if  it  does  not  exceed  ours.  The  prisons  of  that  country — 
for,  even  in  countries  the  most  favored,  prisons  are  need- 
ful— have  been  models  for  other  nations  of  the  earth; 
and  many  European  governments  have  sent  missions  at 
different  times  to  inquire  into  the  admirable  system  of 
education  so  universally  adopted  in  their  free  schools 
throughout  the  Northern  States. 

This  is  a  very  fine,  but  a  very  true  picture;  yet  it  has 
another  side  to  which  I  must  advert.  There  has  been 
one  great  feature  in  that  country,  one  great  contrast, 
which  has  been  pointed  to  by  all  who  have  commented 
upon  the  United  States  as  a  feature  of  danger,  as  a  con- 
trast calculated  to  give  pain.  There  has  been  in  that 
country  the  utmost  liberty  to  the  white  man,  and  bondage 
and  degradation  to  the  black  man.  Now  rely  upon  it, 
that  wherever  Christianity  lives  and  flourishes,  there  must 
grow  up  from  it,  necessarily,  a  conscience  hostile  to  any 
oppression  and  to  any  wrong;  and,  therefore,  from  the 
hour  when  the  United  States  Constitution  was  formed, 
so  long  as  it  left  there  this  great  evil — then  comparatively 
small,  but  now  so  great — it  left  there  seeds  of  that  which 
an  American  statesman  has  so  happily  described  of  that 
11  irrepressible  conflict  "  of  which  now  the  whole  world 
is  the  witness.  It  has  been  a  common  thing  for  men  dis- 
posed to  carp  at  the  United  States  to  point  to  this  blot 
upon  their  fair  fame,  and  to  compare  it  with  the  boasted 
declaration  of  freedom  in  their  Deed  and  Declaration  of 
Independence. 

I  will  not  discuss  the  guilt  of  the  men  who,  ministers 
of  a  great  nation  only  last  year,  conspired  to  overthrow  it. 


THE  TRENT  AFFAIR  181 

I  will  not  point  out  or  recapitulate  the  statements  of  the 
fraudulent  manner  in  which  they  disposed  of  the  funds  in 
the  national  exchequer.  I  will  not  point  out  by  name 
any  of  the  men,  in  this  conspiracy,  whom  history  will  des- 
ignate by  titles  they  would  not  like  to  hear;  but  I  say 
that  slavery  has  sought  to  break  up  the  most  free  govern- 
ment in  the  world,  and  to  found  a  new  State,  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  whose  corner-stone  is  the  perpetual  bond- 
age of  millions  of  men. 

It  has  been  said,  "  How  much  better  it  would  be  " — 
not  for  the  United  States,  but — "  for  us,  that  these  States 
should  be  divided."  I  recollect  meeting  a  gentleman  in 
Bond  Street  one  day  before  the  session  was  over.  He  was 
a  rich  man  and  one  whose  voice  is  much  heard  in  the 
House  of  Commons;  but  his  voice  is  not  heard  when  he 
is  on  his  legs,  but  when  he  is  cheering  other  speakers; 
and  he  said  to  me:  "  After  all,  this  is  a  sad  business  about 
the  United  States;  but  I  think  it  very  much  better  that 
they  should  be  split  up.  In  twenty  years  " — or  in  fifty, 
I  forget  which  it"  was — "  they  will  be  so  powerful  that 
they  will  bully  all  Europe."  And  a  distinguished  member 
of  the  House  of  Commons — distinguished  there  by  his 
eloquence,  distinguished  more  by  his  many  writings — I 
mean  Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton — he  did  not  exactly  ex- 
press a  hope,  but  he  ventured  on  something  like  a  predic- 
tion, that  the  time  would  come  when  there  would  be,  I 
do  not  know  how  many,  but  about  as  many  independent 
States  on  the  American  continent  as  you  can  count  upon 
your  fingers. 

There  can  not  be  a  meaner  motive  than  this  I  am 
speaking  of,  in  forming  a  judgment  on  this  question :  that 
it  is  "  better  for  us  " — for  whom?  the  people  of  England, 
or  the  government  of  England? — that  the  United  States 
should  be  severed,  and  that  the  North  American  continent 
should  be  as  the  continent  of  Europe  is  in  many  States, 


1 82  JOHN  BRIGHT 

and  subject  to  all  the  contentions  and  disasters  which  have 
accompanied  the  history  of  the  states  of  Europe.  I  should 
say  that,  if  a  man  had  a  great  heart  within  him,  he  would 
rather  look  forward  to  the  day,  when,  from  that  point 
of  land  which  is  habitable  nearest  to  the  Pole,  to  the  shores 
of  the  Great  Gulf,  the  whole  of  that  vast  continent  might 
become  one  great  confederation  of  States — without  a  great 
army,  and  without  a  great  navy — not  mixing  itself  up 
with  the  entanglements  of  European  politics — without  a 
custom  house  inside,  through  the  whole  length  and  breadth 
of  its  territory — and  with  freedom  everywhere,  equality 
everywhere,  law  everywhere,  peace  everywhere;  such  a 
confederation  would  afford  at  least  some  hope  that  man  is 
not  forsaken  of  Heaven,  and  that  the  future  of  our  race 
may  be  better  than  the  past. 

Now  I  am  obliged  to  say — and  I  say  it  with  the  utmost 
pain — that  if  we  have  not  done  things  that  are  plainly 
hostile  to  the  North,  and  if  we  have  not  expressed  affec- 
tion for  slavery,  and,  outwardly  and  openly,  hatred  for  the 
Union — I  say  that  there  has  not  been  that  friendly  and 
cordial  neutrality,  which,  if  I  had  been  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  I  should  have  expected ;  and  I  say  further, 
that,  if  there  has  existed  considerable  irritation  at  that,  it 
must  be  taken  as  a  measure  of  the  high  appreciation  which 
the  people  of  those  States  place  upon  the  opinion  of  the 
people  of  England. 

But  there  has  occurred  an  event  which  was  announced 
to  us  only  a  week  ago,  which  is  one  of  great  importance, 
and  it  may  be  one  of  some  peril.  It  is  asserted  that  what 
is  called  "  international  law "  has  been  broken  by  the 
seizure  of  the  Southern  commissioners  on  board  an  Eng- 
lish trading  steamer  by  a  steamer  of  war  of  the  United 
States. 

Now,  the  act  which  has  been  committed  by  the  Ameri- 
can steamer,  in  my  opinion,  whether  it  was  legal  or  not, 


THE  TRENT  AFFAIR  183 

was  both  impolitic  and  bad.  That  is  my  opinion.  I 
think  it  may  turn  out,  almost  certainly,  that,  so  far  as  the 
taking  of  those  men  from  that  ship  was  concerned,  it  was 
an  act  wholly  unknown '  to,  and  unauthorized  by,  the 
American  government.  And  if  the  American  government 
believe,  on  the  opinion  of  their  law  officers,  that  the  act  is 
illegal,  I  have  no  doubt  they  will  make  fitting  reparation ; 
for  there  is  no  government  in  the  world  that  has  so 
strenuously  insisted  upon  modifications  of  international 
law,  and  has  been  so  anxious  to  be  guided  always  by  the 
most  moderate  and  merciful  interpretation  of  that  law. 

Now,  our  great  advisers  of  the  Times  newspaper  have 
been  persuading  people  that  this  is  merely  one  of  a  series 
of  acts  which  denote  the  determination  of  the  Washing- 
ton government  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  the  people  of  Eng- 
land. Did  you  ever  know  anybody  who  was  not  very 
nearly  dead  drunk,  who,  having  as  much  upon  his  hands 
as  he  could  manage,  would  offer  to  fight  everybody  about 
him?  Do  you  believe  that  the  United  States  government 
presided  over  by  President  Lincoln,  so  constitutional  in 
all  his  acts,  so  moderate  as  he  has  been — representing  at 
this  moment  that  great  party  in  the  United  States,  hap- 
pily now  in  the  ascendancy,  which  has  always  been  espe- 
cially in  favor  of  peace,  and  especially  friendly  to  Eng- 
land— do  you  believe  that  such  a  government,  having  now 
upon  its  hands  an  insurrection  of  the  most  formidable 
character  in  the  South,  would  invite  the  armies  and  the 
fleets  of  England  to  combine  with  that  insurrection,  and, 
it  might  be,  to  render  it  impossible  that  the  Union  should 
ever  again  be  restored?  I  say,  that  single  statement, 
whether  it  came  from  a  public  writer  or  a  public  speaker, 
is  enough  to  stamp  him  forever  with  the  character  of 
being  an  insidious  enemy  of  both  countries. 

What  can  be  more  monstrous  than  that  we,  as  we  call 
ourselves,   to  some  extent,   an  educated,  a  moral,   and   a 


1 84  JOHN  BRIGHT 

Christian  nation — at  a  moment  when  an  accident  of  this 
kind  occurs,  before  we  have  made  a  representation  to  the 
American  government,  before  we  have  heard  a  word  from 
it  in  reply — should  be  all  up  in  arms,1  every  sword  leap- 
ing from  its  scabbard,  and  every  man  looking  about  for 
his  pistols  and  his  blunderbusses?  I  think  the  conduct 
pursued — and  I  have  no  doubt  just  the  same  is  pursued 
by  a  certain  class  in  America — is  much  more  the  conduct 
of  savages  than  of  Christian  and  civilized  men.  No,  let 
us  be  calm.  You  recollect  how  we  were  dragged  into 
the  Russian  war — how  we  "  drifted  "  into  it.  You  know 
that  I,  at  least,  have  not  upon  my  head  any  of  the  guilt 
of  that  fearful  war.  You  know  that  it  cost  one  hundred 
millions  of  money  to  this  country ;  that  it  cost  at  least  the 
lives  of  forty  thousand  Englishmen;  that  it  disturbed 
3rour  trade ;  that  it  nearly  doubled  the  armies  of  Europe ; 
that  it  placed  the  relations  of  Europe  on  a  much  less  peace- 
ful footing  than  before;  and  that  it  did  not  effect  one 
single  thing  of  all  those  that  it  was  promised  to  effect. 

Now,  then,  before  I  sit  down,  let  me  ask  you  what  is 
this  people,  about  which  so  many  men  in  England  at  this 
moment  are  writing,  and  speaking,  and  thinking,  with 
harshness,  I  think  with  injustice,  if  not  with  great  bitter- 
ness? Two  centuries  ago,  multitudes  of  the  people  of 
this  country  found  a  refuge  on  the  North  American  con- 
tinent, escaping  from  the  tyranny  of  the  Stuarts  and  from 
the  bigotry  of  Laud.  Many  noble  spirits  from  our  coun- 
try made  great  experiments  in  favor  of  human  freedom 
on  that  continent.  Bancroft,  the  great  historian  of  his 
own  country,  has  said,  in  his  own  graphic  and  emphatic 
language,  "  The  history  of  the  colonization  of  America 
is  the  history  of  the  crimes  of  Europe." 
'  At  this  very  moment,  then,  there  are  millions  in  the 
United  States  who  personally,  or  whose  immediate  parents 
ha^e  at  one  time  been  citizens  of  this  country.    They  have 


THE  TRENT  AFFAIR  185 

found  a  home  in  the  Far  West ;  they  subdued  the  wilder- 
ness; they  met  with  plenty  there,  which  was  not  afforded 
them  in  their  native  country;  and  they  have  become  a 
great  people.  There  may  be  persons  in  England  who  are 
jealous  of  those  States.  There  may  be  men  who  dislike 
democracy,  and  who  hate  a  republic;  there  may  be  even 
those  whose  sympathies  warm  toward  the  slave  oligarchy 
of  the  South.  But  of  this  I  am  certain,  that  only  mis- 
representation the  most  gross,  or  calumny  the  most  wicked 
can  sever  the  tie  which  unites  the  great  mass  of  the  people 
of  this  country  with  their  friends  and  brethren  beyond  the 
Atlantic. 

Now,  whether  the  Union  will  be  restored  or  not,  or 
the  South  achieve  an  unhonored  independence  or  not,  I 
know  not,  and  I  predict  not.  But  this  I  think  I  know — 
that  in  a  few  years,  a  very  few  years,  the  twenty  millions 
of  freemen  in  the  North  will  be  thirty  millions,  or  even 
fifty  millions — a  population  equal  to  or  exceeding  that  of 
this  kingdom.  When  that  time  comes,  I  pray  that  it  may 
not  be  said  among  them,  that  in  the  darkest  hour  of  their 
country's  trials,  England,  the  land  of  their  fathers,  looked 
on  with  icy  coldness  and  saw,  unmoved,  the  perils  and 
calamities  of  their  children.  As  for  me,  I  have  but  this 
to  say :  I  am  but  one  in  this  audience,  and  but  one  in  the 
citizenship  of  this  country;  but  if  all  other  tongues  are 
silent,2  mine  shall  speak  for  that  policy  which  gives  hope 
to  the  bondmen  of  the  South,  and  which  tends  to  generous 
thoughts,  and  generous  words,  and  generous  deeds,  be- 
tween the  two  great  nations  who  speak  the  English  lan- 
guage, and  from  their  origin  are  alike  entitled  to  the 
English  name. 

How  do  you  account  for  the  fact  that  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War  the  sympathy  of  most  Englishmen  was  with  the 
South? 

What  considerations,   whether   urged   by   Bright,  Beecher,   cr 


1 86  JOHN  BRIGHT 

others,  caused  England's  sympathy  gradually  to  swing  over  to 
the   North? 

Was  Bright's  estimate  of  America  a  just  one? 

What  does  the  temper  of  Bright's  speech  imply  concerning 
the  character  of  the  British  public  and  his  audience? 

What  reception  did  his  speech  receive  in  England? 

Compare  Bright's  "if  all  other  tongues  were  silent"  with  a 
similar  emotional  appeal  made  by  Patrick  Henry. 

Discuss  President  Lincoln's  attitude  toward  the  Trent  Affair. 

How  was  the  Affair  finally  adjusted? 


BEECHER'S  SPEECH  AT  LIVERPOOL 

October    16,    1863 

Although  Bright  had  been  able  to  prevent  England 
from  entering  the  war  in  behalf  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy he  had  not  been  able  to  do  away  with  all 
antagonism  toward  the  North.  Sentiment  in  the 
manufacturing  districts  of  England  and  generally 
among  the  working  and  business  classes,  was  with 
the  South  when  Beecher  delivered  his  address  in  Liver- 
pool on  October  16,  1863.  Lack  of  cotton  and  the 
closing  of  Southern  markets  to  English  goods  had 
brought  no  little  distress  to  the  poorer  people.  It 
was  Beecher's  task  to  try  to  win  over  to  the  side  of 
the  North  the  moral  support  of  those  whose  economic 
welfare  seemed  to  depend  on  the  success  of  the  South. 

When  it  was  announced  that  he  was  to  speak  in 
Liverpool,  the  mob-spirit  of  the  community  was 
aroused  and  the  opposition  was  organized  to  make  a 
determined  and  desperate  attempt  to  prevent  the  de- 
livery of  the  speech.  The  streets  were  placarded  with 
abusive  and  scurrilous  posters  urging  Englishmen  to 
"  see  that  he  gets  the  welcome  that  he  deserves."  The 
leading  papers  published  editorial  articles  attacking 
Mr.  Beecher.  It  was  openly  declared  that  if  he  at- 
tempted to  address  the  meeting  he  would  never  leave 
Liverpool  alive. 

On  the  evening  of  the  16th  the  great  hall  was  packed 
with  enemies  and  with  sympathizers.  When  Mr. 
Beecher  came  upon  the  platform  there  were  cat-calls 

187 


1 88  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 

and  cheers  for  several  minutes,  and  the  chairman  with 
great  difficuty  obtained  the  opportunity  to  introduce 
the  speaker.  The  tumult  continued  for  three  hours 
excepting  the  few  brief  intervals  when  Mr.  Beecher 
succeeded  in  obtaining  the  involuntary  attention  of 
his  audience.  Laughter,  shouts,  hisses,  and  insults 
continually  interrupted  the  delivery  of  the  address. 
On  at  least  two  occasions  men  were  carried  forcibly 
from  the  hall.  Nevertheless,  Mr.  Beecher  was  able, 
in  spite  of  all  opposition,  to  create  with  his  audience  an 
impression  that  was  of  great  benefit  to  the  cause  of 
the  North;  and  the  published  report  of  his  address, 
which  the  next  day  was  spread  all  over  England,  be- 
came one  of  the  important  influences  that  led  Great 
Britain  to  decide  finally  against  lending  her  assistance 
to  the  Confederacy. 


SPEECH   AT   LIVERPOOL 

Henry  Ward  Beecher 

For  more  than  twenty-five  years  I  have  been  made  per- 
fectly familiar  with  popular  assemblies  in  all  parts  of  my 
country  except  the  extreme  South.  There  has  not  for  the 
whole  of  that  time  been  a  single  day  of  my  life  when  it 
would  have  been  safe  for  me  to  go  south  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line  1  in  my  own  country,  and  all  for  one  reason: 
my  solemn,  earnest,  persistent  testimony  against  that 
which  I  consider  to  be  the  most  atrocious  thing  under  the 
sun — the  system  of  American  slavery  in  a  great  free  re- 
public. [Cheers.]  I  have  passed  through  that  early 
period  when  right  of  free  speech  was  denied  to  me.  Again 
and  again  I  have  attempted  to  address  audiences  that,  for 
no  other  crime  than  that  of  free  speech,  visited  me  with 


SPEECH  AT  LIVERPOOL  189 

all  manner  of  contumelious  epithets;  and  now  since  I 
have  been  in  England,  although  I  have  met  with  greater 
kindness  and  courtesy  on  the  part  of  most  than  I  deserved, 
yet,  on  the  other  hand,  I  perceive  that  the  Southern  in- 
fluence prevails  to  some  extent  in  England.  [Applause 
and  uproar.]  It  is  my  old  acquaintance;  I  understand  it 
perfectly — [laughter] — and  I  have  always  held  it  to  be  an 
unfailing  truth  that  where  a  man  had  a  cause  that  would 
bear  examination  he  was  perfectly  willing  to  have  it 
spoken  about.  [Applause.]  And  when  in  Manchester 
I  saw  those  huge  placards :  "  Who  is  Henry  Ward 
Beecher?" — [laughter,  cries  of  "  Quite  right,"  and  ap- 
plause]— and  when  in  Liverpool  I  was  told  that  there 
were  those  blood-red  placards,  purporting  to  say  what 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  had  said,  and  calling  upon  English- 
men to  suppress  free  speech — I  tell  you  what  I  thought. 
I  thought  simply  this:  "  I  am  glad  of  it."  [Laughter.] 
Why?  Because  if  they  had  felt  perfectly  secure,  that  you 
are  the  minions  of  the  South  and  the  slaves  of  slavery, 
they  would  have  been  perfectly  still.  [Applause  and 
uproar.]  And,  therefore,  when  I  saw  so  much  nervous 
apprehension  that,  if  I  were  permitted  to  speak — [hisses 
and  applause] — when  I  found  they  were  afraid  to  have 
me  speak — [hisses,  laughter,  and  "  No,  no!"] — when  I 
found  that  they  considered  my  speaking  damaging  to  their 
cause — [applause] — when  I  found  that  they  appealed 
from  facts  and  reasonings  to  mob  law — [applause  and 
uproar] — I  said,  no  man  need  tell  me  what  the  heart  and 
secret  counsel  of  these  men  are.  They  tremble  and  are 
afraid.  [Applause,  laughter,  hisses,  "  No,  No!"  and  a 
voice:  "New  York  mob."]  Now,  personally,  it  is  a 
matter  of  very  little  consequence  to  me  whether  I  speak 
here  to-night  or  not.  [Laughter  and  cheers.]  But,  one 
thing  is  very  certain,  if  you  do  permit  me  to  speak  here 
to-night  you  will  hear  very  plain  talking.     [Applause  and 


i9o  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 

hisses.]  You  will  not  find  a  man — [interruption] — you 
will  not  find  me  to  be  a  man  that  dared  to  speak  about 
Great  Britain  three  thousand  miles  off,  and  then  is  afraid 
to  speak  to  Great  Britain  when  he  stands  on  her  shores. 
[Immense  applause  and  hisses.]  And  if  I  do  not  mistake 
the  tone  and  temper  of  Englishmen,  they  had  rather  have 
a  man  who  opposes  them  in  a  manly  way — [applause  from 
all  parts  of  the  hall] — than  a  sneak  that  agrees  with  them 
in  an  unmanly  way.  [Applause  and  "  Bravo!  "]  Now, 
if  I  can  carry  you  with  me  by  sound  convictions,  I  shall 
be  immensely  glad — [applause] — ;  but  if  I  cannot  carry 
you  with  me  by  facts  and  sound  arguments,  I  do  not  wish 
you  to  go  with  me  at  all;  and  all  that  I  ask  is  simply 
fair  play.  [Applause,  and  a  voice:  "  You  shall  have 
it,  too."] 

Those  of  you  who  are  kind  enough  to  wish  to  favor 
my  speaking — and  you  will  observe  that  my  voice  is 
slightly  husky,  from  having  spoken  almost  every  night  in 
succession  for  some  time  past, — those  who  wish  to  hear 
me  will  do  me  the  kindness  simply  to  sit  still,  and  to  keep 
still —  and  I  and  my  friends  the  Secessionists  will  make  all 
the  noise.     [Laughter.] 

Wherever  a  nation  that  is  crushed,  cramped,  degraded 
under  despotism  is  struggling  to  be  free,  you — Leeds, 
Sheffield,  Manchester,  Paisley — all  have  an  interest  that 
that  nation  should  be  free.  When  depressed  and  back- 
ward people  demand  that  they  may  have  a  chance  to  rise 
' — Hungary,  Italy,  Poland — it  is  a  duty  for  humanity's 
sake,  it  is  a  duty  for  the  highest  moral  motives,  to  sym- 
pathize with  them ;  but  besides  all  these  there  is  a  material 
and  an  interested  reason  why  you  should  sympathize  with 
them.  Pounds  and  pence  join  with  conscience  and  with 
honor  in  this  design.  Now,  Great  Britain's  chief  want  is 
— what  ? 

They  have  said  that  your  chief  want  is  cotton.     I  deny 


SPEECH  AT  LIVERPOOL  191 

it.  Your  chief  want  is  consumers.  [Applause  and  hisses.] 
You  have  got  skill,  you  have  got  capital,  and  you  have 
got  machinery  enough  to  manufacture  goods  for  the  whole 
population  of  the  globe.  You  could  turn  out  fourfold 
as  much  as  you  do,  if  you  only  had  the  market  to  sell  in. 
It  is  not  so  much  the  want,  therefore,  of  fabric,  though 
there  may  be  a  temporary  obstruction  of  it;  but  the  prin- 
cipal and  increasing  want — increasing  from  year  to  year 
— is,  where  shall  we  find  men  to  buy  what  we  can  manu- 
facture so  fast?  [Interruption,  and  a  voice,  "  The  Mor- 
rill tariff/' 2  and  applause.]  Before  the  American  war 
broke  out,  your  warehouses  were  loaded  with  goods  that 
you  could  not  sell.  [Applause  and  hisses.]  You  had 
over-manufactured;  what  is  the  meaning  of  over-manu- 
facturing but  this:  that  you  had  skill,  capital,  machinery, 
to  create  faster  than  you  had  customers  to  take  goods  off 
3'our  hands?  And  you  know  that  rich  as  Great  Britain  is, 
vast  as  are  her  manufactures,  if  she  could  have  fourfold 
the  present  demand,  she  could  make  fourfold  riches  to- 
morrow; and  every  political  economist  will  tell  you  that 
your  want  is  not  cotton  primarily,  but  customers.  There- 
fore, the  doctrine,  how  to  make  customers,  is  a  great  deal 
more  important  to  Great  Britain  than  the  doctrine  how 
to  raise  cotton.  It  is  to  that  doctrine  I  ask  from  you, 
business  men,  practical  men,  men  of  fact,  sagacious  Eng- 
lishmen— to  that  point  I  ask  a  moment's  attention. 
[Shouts  of  "  Oh,  oh!  "  hisses,  and  applause.]  There  are 
no  more  continents  to  be  discovered.  [Hear,  hear!] 
The  market  of  the  future  must  be  found — how?  There 
is  very  little  hope  of  any  more  demand  being  created  by 
new  fields.  If  you  are  to  have  a  better  market  there 
must  be  some  kind  of  process  invented  to  make  the  old 
fields  better.  [A  voice,  "  Tell  us  something  new,"  shouts 
of  "  Order,"  and  interruption.]  Let  us  look  at  it,  then. 
You  must  civilize  the  world  in  order  to  make  a  better 


i92  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 

class  of  purchasers.  [Interruption.]  If  you  were  to  press 
Italy  down  again  under  the  feet  of  despotism,  Italy,  dis- 
couraged, could  draw  but  very  few  supplies  from  you. 
But  give  her  liberty,  kindle  schools  throughout  her  valleys, 
spur  her  industry,  make  treaties  with  her  by  which  she 
can  exchange  her  wine,  and -her  oil,  and  her  silk  for  your 
manufactured  goods;  and  for  every  effort  that  you  make 
in  that  direction  there  will  come  back  profit  to  you  _ by 
increased  traffic  with  her.  [Loud  applause.]  If  Hungary 
asks  to  be  an  unshackled  nation — if  by  freedom  she  will 
rise  in  virtue  and  intelligence,  then  by  freedom  she  will 
acquire  a  more  multifarious  industry,  which  she  will  be 
willing  to  exchange  for  your  manufactures.  Her  liberty 
is  to  be  found — where?  You  will  find  it  in  the  Word 
of  God,  you  will  find  it  in  the  code  of  history;  but  you 
will  also  find  it  in  the  Price  Current  [Hear,  hear!]  ;  and 
every  free  nation,  every  civilized  people — every  people 
that  rises  from  barbarism  to  industry  and  intelligence,  be- 
comes a  better  customer.  Now,  there  is  in  this  a  great  and 
sound  principle  of  political  economy.  ["  Yah,  yah !  "  from 
the  passage  outside  the  hall,  and  loud  laughter.]  If  the 
South  should  be  rendered  independent — [at  this  juncture 
mingled  cheering  and  hissing  became  immense;  half  the 
audience  rose  to  their  feet,  waving  hats  and  handkerchiefs, 
and  in  every  part  of  the  hall  there  was  the  greatest  com- 
motion and  uproar.]  Well,  you  have  had  your  turn  now; 
now  let  me  have  mine  again.  [Loud  applause  and  laugh- 
ter.] It  is  a  little  inconvenient  to  talk  against  the  wind; 
but  after  all,  if  you  will  just  keep  good-natured — I  am  not 
going  to  lose  my  temper;  will  you  watch  yours?  [Ap- 
plause.] Besides  all  that,  it  rests  me,  and  gives  me  a 
chance,  you  know,  to  get  my  breath.  [Applause  and 
hisses.]  And  I  think  that  the  bark  of  those  men  is  worse 
than  their  bite.  They  do  not  mean  any  harm — they  don't 
know  any  better.      [Loud  laughter,  applause,  hisses,  and 


SPEECH  AT  LIVERPOOL  193 


continued  uproar.]  I  was  saying,  when  these  responses 
broke  in,  that  it  was  worth  our  while  to  consider  both 
alternatives.  What  will  be  the  result  if  this  present  strug- 
gle shall  eventuate  in  the  reparation  of  America,  and 
making  the  South — [loud  applause,  hisses,  hooting,  and 
cries  of  "  Bravo!  "] — a  slave  territory  exclusively — [cries 
of  "  No,  no!  "  and  laughter] — and  the  North  a  free  ter- 
ritory,— what  will  be  the  first  result?  You  will  lay 
the  foundation  for  carrying  the  slave  population  clear 
through  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  is  the  first  step. 
There  is  not  a  man  that  has  been  a  leader  of  the  South 
any  time  within  these  twenty  years  that  has  not  had  this 
for  a  plan.  It  was  for  this  that  Texas  was  invaded,  first 
by  colonists,  next  by  marauders,  until  it  was  wrested  from 
Mexico.  It  was  for  this  that  they  engaged  in  the  Mexi- 
can War  itself,  by  which  the  vast  territory  reaching  to  the 
Pacific  was  added  to  the  Union.  Never  for  a  moment 
have  they  given  up  the  plan  of  spreading  the  American 
institutions,  as  they  call  them,  straight  through  toward 
the  West,  until  the  slave,  who  has  washed  his  feet  in  the 
Atlantic,  shall  be  carried  to  wash  them  in  the  Pacific. 
[Cries  of  "  Question,"  and  uproar.]  There!  I  have  got 
that  statement  out,  and  you  cannot  put  it  back.  [Laugh- 
ter and  applause.]  Now,  let  us  consider  the  prospect. 
If  the  South  becomes  a  slave  empire,  wThat  relation  will  it 
have  to  you  as  a  customer?  [A  voice:  "Or  any  other 
man."  Laughter.]  It  would  be  an  empire  of  twelve 
millions  of  people.  Now,  of  these,  eight  millions  are 
white,  and  four  millions  black.  [A  voice:  "  How  many 
have  you  got?  "  Applause  and  laughter.  Another  voice: 
"Free  your  own  slaves!"]  Consider  that  one-third  of 
the  whole  are  the  miserably  poor,  unbuying  blacks.  [Cries 
of  "  No,  no!  "  "Yes,  yes!  "  and  interruption.]  You  do 
not  manufacture  much  for  them.  [Hisses,  "Oh!" 
"No!"]     You  have  not  got  machinery  coarse  enough. 


i94  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 

[Laughter,  and  "  No."]  Your  labor  is  too  skilled  by  far 
to  manufacture  bagging  and  linsey-woolsey.  [A  South- 
erner: "  We  are  going  to  free  them,  every  one."]  Then 
you  and  I  agree  exactly.  [Laughter.]  One  other  third 
consists  of  a  poor,  unskilled,  degraded  white  population; 
and  the  remaining  one-third,  which  is  a  large  allowance, 
we  will  say,  intelligent  and  rich. 

Now  here  are  twelve  million  of  people,  and  only  one- 
third  of  them  are  customers  that  can  afford  to  buy  the 
kind  of  goods  that  you  bring  to  market.  [Interruption 
and  uproar.]  My'  friends,  I  saw  a  man  once,  who  was 
a  little  late  at  a  railway  station,  chase  an  express  train. 
He  did  not  catch  it.  [Laughter.]  If  you  are  going  to 
stop  this  meeting,  you  have  got  to  stop  it  before  I  speak; 
for  after  I  have  got  the  things  out,  you  may  chase  as  long 
as  you  please — you  would  not  catch  them.  [Laughter 
and  interruption.]  But  there  is  luck  in  leisure;  I  am 
going  to  take  it  easy.  [Laughter.]  Two-thirds  of  the 
population  of  the  Southern  States  to-day  are  non- 
purchasers  of  English  goods.  [A  voice:  "  No,  they  are 
not;"  "No,  no!  "  and  uproar.]  Now  you  must  recollect 
another  fact — namely,  that  this  is  going  on  clear  through 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean;  and  if  by  sympathy  or  help  you 
establish  a  slave  empire,  you  sagacious  Britons — ["  Oh, 
oh!"  and  hooting] — if  you  like  it  better,  then,  I  will 
leave  the  adjective  out — [laughter,  Hear!  and  applause] 
— are  busy  in  favoring  the  establishment  of  an  empire 
from  ocean  to  ocean  that  should  have  fewest  customers 
and  the  largest  non-buying  population.  [Applause,  "  No, 
no!  "  A  voice:  "  I  thought  it  was  the  happy  people  that 
populated  fastest."] 

Now,  what  can  England  make  for  the  poor  white  popu- 
lation of  such  a  future  empire,  and  for  her  slave  popula- 
tion? What  carpets,  what  linens,  what  cottons  can  you 
sell  them?     What  machines,  what  looking-glasses,  what 


SPEECH  AT  LIVERPOOL  195 

combs,  what  leather,  what  books,  what  pictures,  what 
engravings?  [A  voice:  "  We'll  sell  them  ships."]  You 
may  sell  ships  to  a  few,  but  what  ships  can  you  sell  to 
two-thirds  of  the  population  of  poor  whites  and  blacks? 
[Applause.]  A  little  bagging  and  a  little  linsey-woolsey, 
a  few  whips  and  manacles,  are  all  that  you  can  sell  for  the 
slave.  [Great  applause  and  uproar.]  This  very  day,  in 
the  slave  States  of  America  there  are  eight  millions  out 
of  twelve  millions  that  are  not,  and  cannot  be  your  cus- 
tomers from  the  very  laws  of  trade.  [A  voice:  "Then 
how  are  they  clothed?"  and  interruption.] 

There  is  another  fact  that  I  wish  to  allude  to — not  for 
the  sake  of  reproach  or  blame,  but  by  way  of  claiming 
your  more  lenient  consideration — and  that  is,  that  slavery 
was  entailed  upon  us  by  your  action.  [Hear,  hear!] 
Against  the  earnest  protests  of  the  colonists  the  then  gov- 
ernment of  Great  Britain — I  will  concede  not  knowing 
what  were  the  mischiefs — ignorantly,  but  in  point  of  fact, 
forced  slave  traffic  on  the  unwilling  colonists.  [Great 
uproar,  in  the  midst  of  which  one  individual  was  lifted 
up  and  carried  out  of  the  room  amid  cheers  and  hisses.] 

I  do  not  ask  that  you  should  justify  slavery  in  us, 
because  it  was  wrong  in  you  two  hundred  years  ago ;  but 
having  ignorantly  been  the  means  of  fixing  it  upon  us, 
now  that  we  are  struggling  with  mortal  struggles  to  free 
ourselves  from  it,  we  have  a  right  to  your  tolerance,  your 
patience,  and  charitable  constructions. 

No  man  can  unveil  the  future;  no  man  can  tell  what 
revolutions  are  about  to  break  upon  the  world;  no  man 
can  tell  what  destiny  belongs  to  France,  nor  to  any  of  the 
European  powers;  but  one  thing  is  certain,  that  in  the 
exigencies  of  the  future  there  will  be  combinations  and 
recombinations,  and  that  those  combinations  that  are  of 
the  same  faith,  the  same  blood,  and  the  same  substantial 
interests,  ought  not  to  be  alienated  from  each  other,  but 


196  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 

ought  to  stand  together.     [Immense  cheering  and  hisses.] 
I  do  not  say  that  you  ought  not  to  be  in  the  most  friendly 
alliance  with   France  or  with  Germany;   but   I    do   say 
that  your  own  children,  the  offspring  of  England,  ought 
to  be  nearer  to  you  than  any  people  of  strange  tongue. 
[A  voice:   "  Degenerate  sons,"   applause  and   hisses;   an- 
other voice:  "  What  about  the  Trent?"].     If  there  had 
been  any  feelings  of  bitterness  in  America,  let*  me  tell  you 
that  they  had  been   excited,   rightly   or  wrongly,   under 
the  impression  that  Great  Britain  was  going  to  intervene 
between   us  and   our   own   lawful   struggle.      [A  voice: 
"  No!  "  and  applause.]     With  the  evidence  that  there  is 
no  such  intention  all  bitter  feelings  will  pass  away.     [Ap- 
plause.]    We  do  not  agree  with  the  recent  doctrine  of 
neutrality  3  as  a  question  of  law.     But  it  is  past,  and  we 
are  not  disposed  to  raise  that  question.    We  accept  it  now 
as  a  fact,  and  we  say  that  the  utterance  of  Lord  Russell  4 
at  Blairgowrie — [applause,  hisses,  and  a  voice:   "What 
about  Lord  Brougham?  "] — together  with  the  declaration 
of    the    government    in    stopping    war-steamers    here — - 
[great  uproar,  and  applause] — has  gone  far  toward  quiet- 
ing  every   fear   and   removing   every   apprehension    from 
our  minds.     [Uproar  and  shouts  of  applause.]     And  now 
in  the  future  it  is  the  work  of  every  good  man  and  patriot 
not  to  create  divisions,   but  to   do   the   things  that  will 
make  for  peace.     ["Oh,  oh!"  and  laughter.]     On  our 
part  it  shall  be  done.     [Applause  and  hisses,  and  "  No, 
No!  "]     On  your  part  it  ought  to  be  done;  and  when  in 
any  of  the  convulsions  that  come  upon  the  world,  Great 
Britain  finds  herself  struggling  single-handed  against  the 
gigantic  powers  that  spread  oppression   and   darkness — 
[Applause,  hisses,  and  uproar] — there  ought  to  be  such 
cordiality  that  she  can  turn  and  say  to  her  first-born  and 
most  illustrious  child,  "  Come!  "     [Hear,  hear!  applause, 
tremendous  cheers,   and   uproar.]      I  will  not  say   that 


SPEECH  AT  LIVERPOOL  197 

England  cannot  again,  as  hitherto,  single-handed  manage 
any  power— [applause  and  uproar] — but  I  will  say  that 
England  and  America  together  for  religion  and  liberty — 
[A  voice:  "  Soap,  soap,"  uproar,  and  great  applause] — 
are  a  match  for  the  world.  [Applause;  a  voice:  "  They 
don't  want  any  more  soft  soap."]  Now,  gentlemen  and 
ladies — [A  voice:  "Sam  Slick,"  and  another  voice: 
"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  if  you  please  "] — when  I  came 
I  was  asked  whether  I  would  answer  questions,  and  I 
very  readily  consented  to  do  so,  as  I  had  in  other  places; 
but  I  will  tell  you  it  was  because  I  expected  to  have  the 
opportunity  of  speaking  with  some  sort  of  ease  and  quiet. 
[A  voice:  "So  you  have."]  I  have  for  an  hour  and  a 
half  spoken  against  a  storm5 — [Hear,  hear!] — and  you 
yourselves  are  witnesses  that,  by  the  interruption,  I  have 
been  obliged  to  strive  with  my  voice,6  so  that  I  no  longer 
have  the  power  to  control  this  assembly.  [Applause.] 
And  although  I  am  in  spirit  perfectly  willing  to  answer 
any  question,  and  more  than  glad  of  the  chance,  yet  I 
am  by  this  very  unnecessary  opposition  to-night  incapaci- 
tated physically  from  doing  it.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I 
bid  you'  good-evening. 


Why  did  the  announcement  that  Mr.  Beecher  was  to  Bpeak 
in  Liverpool  meet  with  intense  opposition? 

How  can  you  account  for  the  fact  that  an  audience  that  had 
assembled  presumably  to  hear  Beecher  speak  seemed  so  unwill- 
ing to   listen? 

What  means  did  Beecher  take  to  gain  the  sympathy  of  his 
audience? 

Was  Beecher  successful  in  gaining  the  attention  of  his  Liver- 
pool  audience? 

Do  you  think  Beecher,  in  spite  of  the  uproar  against  which 
he  strove  to  speak,  accomplished  anything  of  value  that  night? 

Do  you  think  that  Beecher  delivered  this  speech  approxi- 
mately in  the  form  that  he  outlined  before  he  came  to  the  hall? 

Can  you  find  an  instance  in  his  speech  where  Beecher  changed 


i98  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 

the  conclusion  of  a  sentence  so  as  to  turn  the  laugh  on  oppo- 
nents who  had  interrupted  him? 

When  Beecher  said  that  England  might  say  to  her  first-born 
child,  "  Come,"  do  you  suppose  he  had  in  mind  such  an  emerg- 
ency as  the  Great  War? 

What  had  Beecher  hoped  to  accomplish  in  his  English  ad- 
dresses, and  to  what  extent  was  he  successful? 


LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  AT  GETTYSBURG 

November  19,   1863 

At  Gettysburg,  July  1,  2,  and  3,  General  Meade  and 
the  Federal  army  brought  to  an  end  the  long  series  of 
Northern  defeats  that  had  culminated  in  the  alarming 
disasters  at  Fredericksburg  and  Chancellorsville. 
Gettysburg  was  the  turning  point  in  the  Civil  War. 
Together  with  Grant's  success  at  Vicksburg,  it  brought 
new  hope  to  the  defenders  of  the  Union,  although  it 
was  still  evident  that  a  long  hard  struggle  remained. 

The  state  of  Pennsylvania  soon  after  the  battle  gave 
to  the  Federal  government  seventeen  and  a  half  acres 
of  land  to  be  used  as  a  national  cemetery  in  which  to 
bury  the  fifty  thousand  men  who  fell  on  the  field. 
On  November  19,  1863,  the  cemetery  was  formally 
dedicated.  Edward  Everett  was  the  orator  of  the 
day;  but  President  Lincoln  was  asked  to  make  a  few 
remarks  in  which  he  was  formally  to  set  apart  the 
grounds  to  their  use. 

On  the  train  that  took  President  Lincoln  to  Gettys- 
burg he  wrote  out  with  pencil  the  words  that  he 
planned  to  speak.  At  Gettysburg  a  grand  procession 
accompanied  by  military  music  marched  to  the  summit 
of  the  little  hill  overlooking  the  battlefield,  where  amid 
the  trees  a  stand  for  the  speakers  had  been  erected. 
Edward  Everett  delivered  an  elaborate  polished  ora- 
tion two  hours  long  in  which  he  reviewed  the  objects 
of  the  war  and  the  battle  and  its  consequences.  The 
President  then  spoke  the  few  simple  words  that  the 

199 


200  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

world    has    since    appraised   as   one   of    the   greatest 
speeches  ever  delivered. 


SPEECH    AT    THE     DEDICATION    OF    THE 

NATIONAL  CEMETERY  AT 

GETTYSBURG 

Abraham  Lincoln 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth 
on  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and 
dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created 
equal. 

Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing 
whether  that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so 
dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great 
battlefield1  of  that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a 
portion  of  that  field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who 
here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is 
altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

But  in  a  larger  sense  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot 
consecrate,  we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave 
men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  conse- 
crated it  far  above  our  power  to  add  or  detract.  The 
world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remember,  what  we  say 
here;  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is 
for  us,  the  living,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  un- 
finished work  which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far 
so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated 
to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us,  that  from  these 
honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause 
for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion ; 
that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have 
died  in  vain;  that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a 


SPEECH  AT  GETTYSBURG  201 

new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  for  the  people  shall  not  perish  from  the 
earth. 

Show  that  this  speech  was  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  occa- 
sion of  its  delivery. 

In  what  respect  is  the  central  thought  of  this  speech  like  the 
central  thought  of  Webster's  First  Bunker  Hill  Oration? 

In  what  respect  is  the  conception  of  democratic  government  as 
expressed  in  this  speech  like  that  expressed  by  Webster  in  his 
Reply  to  Hayne? 

Is  there  anything  in  this  speech  that  indicates  that  Lincoln 
was  conscious  that  the  nation  was  fighting  to  preserve  demo- 
cratic institutions  and  not  merely  the  American  Union? 

What  did  Lincoln  mean  by  "a  new  birth  of  freedom"? 

Can  you  tell  why  this  speech  is  considered  one  of  the  greatest 
ever    delivered? 


LINCOLN'S  SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

March  4,  1865 

When  Lincoln  approached  the  beginning  of  his  sec- 
ond term  the  long  struggle  was  nearly  concluded.  If, 
however,  the  end  had  not  been  in  sight,  the  Union 
government  could  hardly  have  continued  the  contest. 
Blood  and  treasure  had  been  poured  out  until  the 
North  was  almost  exhausted.  Although  the  rebellious 
forces  of  the  South  were  nearly  subdued,  the  future 
of  the  Union  was  dark. 

The  President's  policies  had,  at  last,  gained  the  al- 
most unanimous  support  of  the  North.  One  by  one 
his  enemies  and  traducers  had  been  silenced;  but 
Lincoln  had  no  thought  of  exultation  over  his  triumph. 
On  the  occasion  of  his  second  inauguration,  with  .a_ 
devout  and  chastened  spirit,  he  recognizedthe  sincerity 
of  the  South,  the  righteousness  of  the  j:ause  of  the 
North,  and  the  authority  of  the  Almighty  to  sit  in 
judgment  over  both.  His  solemn  words  are  often 
likened  to  the  more  lofty  portions  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. No  greater  speech  was  ever  spoken.  So  con- 
trite was  his  spirit,  that  many  readers  seem  to  find 
his  words  inspired  with  a  prophetic  realization  of  his 
impending  doom. 


202 


SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS        203 

SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

Abraham  Lincoln 

Fellow-countrymen  :  At  this  second  appearing  to  take 
the  oath  of  the  presidential  office  there  is  less  occasion  for 
an  extended  address  than  there  was  at  the  first.  Then 
a  statement  somewhat  in  detail  of  a  course  to  be  pursued 
seemed  fitting  and  proper.  Now  at  the  expiration  of  four 
years,  during  which  public  declarations  have  been  con- 
stantly called  forth  on  every  point  and  phase  of  the  great 
contest  which  still  absorbs  the  attention  and  engrosses 
the  energies  of  the  natiany  little  that  is  new  could  be 
presented. 

The  progress  of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly 
depends,  is  as  well  known  to  the  public  as  to  myself, 
and  is,  I  trust,  reasonably  satisfactory  and  encouraging 
to  all.  With  high  hopes  for  the  future,  no  prediction  in 
regard  to  it  is  ventured. 

On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this  four  years  ago 
all  thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an  impending 
civil  war.  All  dreaded  it ;  all  sought  to  avert  it.  While 
the  inaugural  address  was  being  delivered  from  this  place, 
devoted  altogether  to  saving  the  Union  without  war,  insur- 
gent agents  were  in  the  city  seeking  to  destroy  it  without 
war — seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union  and  divide  the  effects 
by  negotiation.  Both  parties  deprecated  war;  but  one  of 
them  would  make  war  rather  than  let  the  nation  survive, 
and  the  other  would  accept  war  rather  than  let  it  perish. 
And  the  war  came.  One-eighth  of  the  whole  population 
were  colored  slaves,  not  distributed  generally  over  the 
Union,  but  localized  in  the  southern  part  of  it.  These 
slaves  constituted  a  peculiar  and  powerful  interest.  All 
knew  that  this  interest  was  somehow  the  cause  of  the  war. 


?o4  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

To  strengthen,  perpetuate,  and  extend  this  interest  was  the 
object  for  which  the  insurgents  would  rend  the  Union, 
even  by  war,  while  the  government  claimed  no  right  to 
do  more  than  to  restrict  the  territorial  enlargement  of  it. 

Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude  or 
the  duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither  an- 
ticipated that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease  with,  or 
even  before,  the  conflict  itself  should  cease.  Each  looked 
for  an  easier  triumph  and  a  result  less  fundamental  and 
astounding. 

Both  read  the  same  Bible  and  pray  to  the  same  God; 
{  and  each  invokes  His  aid  against  the  other. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  any  man  should  dare  to  ask 
a  just  God's  assistance  in  wringing  his  bread  from  the 
sweat  of  other  men's  faces;  but  let  us  judge  not,  that  we 
be  not  judged. 

The  prayers  of  both  could  not  be  answered.  That  of 
neither  has  been  answered  fully.  The  Almighty  has  His 
own  purposes. 

"  Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offences,  for  it  must 
needs  be  that  offences  come;  but  woe  to  that  man  by 
whom  the  offence  cometh." 

If  we  shall  suppose  that  American  slavery  is  one  of 
those  offences,  which  in  the  providence  of  God  must  needs 
come,  but  which,  having  continued  through  His  appointed 
time,  He  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  He  gives  to 
both  North  and  South  this  terrible  war  as  the  woe  due 
to  those  by  whom  the  offence  came,  shall  we  discern 
« therein  any  departure  from  those  Divine  attributes  which 
l^JieJielkv-ess  in  a  living  God  always  ascribe  to  Him? 

Fondly  do  we  hope,   fervently  do  we  pray,  that  this 

mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.     Yet  if 

JGo d~wills  that  it  continue )  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by 

I  the  bondman's  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited 

toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn 


SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS        205 

with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  with  another  drawn  with  the 
sword,   as  was  said  three  thousand  years  ago  so  still  it 
must  be  said,  "  The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and 
\  righteous  altogether/J   . 

With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in;  to  bind 
up  the  nation's  wounds;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have 
borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  orphans ;  to  do 
all  which  may  achieve  and  cherish^  a  just  and  lasting 
peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations. 

Compare  the  length  and  scope  of  this  speech  with  that  of 
other  presidential   inaugural   addresses. 

Did  Lincoln  do  well  to  use  biblical  diction  in  this  state  paper? 

What  was  the  emotional  effect  of  Lincoln's  showing  in  this 
speech  that  his  work  was  merged  with  his  religion? 

Did  the  President  in  your  opinion  correctly  state  the  cause  of 
the   war? 

Did  President  Lincoln's  address  lose  effectiveness  in  any 
degree  because  he  failed  to  predict  success  for  the  Union  armies? 

What  sentiments  expressed  by  Lincoln  in  this  speech  finally 
convinced  the  Confederacy  that  the  North  had  determined  to 
prosecute  the  war  vigorously  to  the  end? 

What  attitude  toward  his  enemies  is  shown  by  Lincoln  in 
this  speech? 

How  is  the  character  of  Lincoln  reflected  in  his  confidences, 
hopes,  and  aims? 

To  what  sentiments  and   motives  does  Lincoln   appeal? 

Did  Lincoln  in  this  speech  establish  a  precedent  in  the  his- 
tory of  democratic  government  for  toleration  of  opponents' 
views  and  respect  for  differing  opinion,  or  can  you  point  to 
similar  sentiments  expressed  previously  by  some  other  orator? 


THE  NEW  SOUTH 

December  21,   1886 

The  close  of  the  war  left  the  South  impoverished  and 
almost  hopeless.  Roads,  bridges,  and  buildings  were 
destroyed;  and  the  land  was  desolated.  The  dis- 
banded Confederate  soldiers  had  to  begin  life  over 
again  without  resources  and  often  without  health. 
Four  million  freedmen  who  owned  no  property  were 
scattered  throughout  the  country  where  few  were  able 
to  employ  them. 

Improvement  came  very  slowly.  The  former  slaves 
lacked  the  training  that  would  make  them  industrious. 
They  were  inclined  to  live  in  idleness.  In  bitter  oppo- 
sition to  the  will  of  the  North,  the  Southern  legis- 
latures passed  laws  that  tended  to  keep  the  negroes  in 
a  state  of  subjection  and  prevented  the  exercise  of  their 
newly  gained  rights.  In  retaliation  Congress  declined 
to  receive  the  representatives  and  senators  elected 
by  the  states  that  had  seceded.  Northern  carpet- 
baggers and  unprincipled  adventurers  attempted  to 
gain  political  control  in  the  South  or  deliver  authority 
into  the  hands  of  the  negroes.  So  slowly  was  progress 
made  toward  reconstruction  and  reconciliation  that  it 
was  not  until  1872  that  Congress  granted  a  fairly  com- 
plete general  amnesty  to  those  who  had  fought  for 
the  Confederacy.  Indeed  not  until  many  years  later 
were  the  last  remaining  disabilities  removed. 

Chief  among  those  who  during  this  critical  period 
were  instrumental  in  producing  a  better  understand- 

206 


THE  NEW  SOUTH  207 

ing  between  the  North  and  the  South  was  Henry  W. 
Grady.  At  a  dinner  of  the  New  England  Society  in 
New  York  on  December  21,  1886,  at  a  time  when  the 
country  was  ripe  for  the  word,  he  delivered  a  speech 
which  among  the  younger  generation  stimulated  every- 
where a  resolve  to  end  forever  the  prejudices  and 
animosities  that  had  survived  the  Civil  War.  This 
speech  marks  the  climax  of  the  reconciliation.  The 
last  echo  of  the  strife  was  stilled  in  1898  when  the 
sons  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Blue  and  of  the  Gray  fought 
together  in  the  Spanish-American  War. 


THE  NEW  SOUTH 

Henry  W.  Grady 

"  There  was  a  South  of  slavery  and  secession — that 
South  is  dead.  There  is  a  South  of  union  and  freedom — 
that  South,  thank  God,  is  living,  breathing,  growing  every 
hour."  These  words,  delivered  from  the  immortal  lips 
of  Benjamin  H.  Hill,1  at  Tammany  Hall,2  in  1866,  true 
then,  and  truer  now,  I  shall  make  my  text  to-night. 

In  speaking  to  the  toast  with  which  you  have  honored 
me,  I  accept  the  term,  "  The  New  South,"  as  in  no  sense 
disparaging  to  the  old.  Dear  to  me,  sir,  is  the  home  of 
my  childhood,  and  the  traditions  of  my  people.  I  would 
not,  if  I  could,  dim  the  glory  they  won  in  peace  and  war, 
or  by  word  or  deed  take  aught  from  the  splendor  and 
grace  of  their  civilization,  never  equalled,  and  perhaps 
never  to  be  equalled  in  its  chivalric  strength  and  grace. 
There  is  a  new  South,  not  through  protest  against  the 
old,  but  because  of  new  conditions,  new  adjustments,  and, 
if  you  please,  new  ideas  and  aspirations. 

Doctor  Talmage3  has  drawn  for  you,  with  a  master's 


208  HENRY  W.  GRADY 

hand,  the  picture  of  your  returning  armies.  He  has  told 
you  how,  in  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  war,  they  came 
back  to  you,  marching  with  proud  and  victorious  tread, 
reading  their  glory  in  a  nation's  eyes!  Will  you  bear 
with  me  while  I  tell  you  of  another  army  that  sought  its 
home  at  the  close  of  the  late  war — an  army  that  marched 
home  in  defeat  and  not  in  victory — in  pathos  and  not  in 
splendor,  but  in  glory  that  equalled  yours,  and  to  hearts 
as  loving  as  ever  welcomed  heroes  home  ?  Let  me  picture 
to  you  the  foot-sore  Confederate  soldier,  ar,  buttoning 
up  in  his  faded  gray  jacket  the  parole  which  was  to  bear 
testimony  to  his  children  of  his  fidelity  and  faith,  he 
turned  his  face  southward  from  Appomattox  in  April, 
1865. 

Think  of  him  as  ragged,  half-starved,  heavy-hearted, 
enfeebled  by  want  and  wounds  having  fought  to  ex- 
haustion, he  surrenders  his  gun,  wrings  the  hands  of  his 
comrades  in  silence,  and  lifting  his  tear-stained  and  pallid 
face  for  the  last  time  to  the  graves  that  dot  old  Virginia 
hills,  pulls  his  gray  cap  over  his  brow  and  begins  the  slow 
and  faithful  journey.  What  does  he  find — let  me  ask  you 
who  went  to  your  homes  eager  to  find,  in  the  welcome  you 
had  justly  earned,  full  payment  for  four  years'  sacrifice — 
what  does  he  find  when,  having  followed  the  battle 
stained  cross  against  overwhelming  odds,  dreading  death 
not  half  so  much  as  surrender,  he  reaches  the  home  he 
left  so  prosperous  and  beautiful? 

He  finds  his  home  in  ruins,  his  farm  devastated,  his 
slaves  free,  his  stock  killed,  his  barns  empty,  his  trade  de- 
stroyed, his  money  worthless,  his  social  system,  feudal  in 
its  magnificence,  swept  away;  his  people  without  law  or 
legal  status,  his  comrades  slain,  and  the  burdens  of  others 
heavy  on  his  shoulders.  Crushed  by  defeat,  his  very  tradi- 
tions are  gone.  Without  money,  credit,  employment, 
material,  or  training,  and,  besides  all  this,  confronted  with 


THE  NEW  SOUTH  209 

the  gravest  problem  that  ever  met  human  intelligence1 — 
the  establishing  of  a  status  for  the  vast  body  of  his  liber- 
ated slaves. 

What  does  he  do — this  hero  in  gray,  with  a  heart  of 
gold  ?  Does  he  sit  down  in  sullenness  and  despair  ?  Not 
for  a  day.  Surely,  God,  who  had  stripped  him  of  his 
prosperity,  inspired  to  him  in  his  adversity.  As  ruin  was 
never  before  so  overwhelming,  never  was  restoration 
swifter.  The  soldiers  stepped  from  the  trenches  into  the 
furrow;  horses  that  had  charged  Federal  guns  marched 
before  the  plow;  and  the  fields  that  ran  red  with  human 
blood  in  April  were  green  with  the  harvest  in  June.  From 
the  ashes  left  us  in  18644  we  have  raised  a  brave  and 
beautiful  city.  Somehow  or  other  we  have  caught  the 
sunshine  in  the  bricks  and  mortar  of  our  homes,  and  have 
builded  therein  not  one  ignoble  prejudice  or  memory. 

The  old  South  rested  everything  on  slavery  and  agri- 
culture, unconscious  that  these  could  neither  give  nor 
maintain  healthy  growth.  The  new  South  presents  a  per- 
fect democracy,  the  oligarchs  in  the  popular  movement — 
a  social  system  compact  and  closely  knitted,  less  splendid 
on  the  surface,  but  stronger  at  the  core;  a  hundred  farms 
for  every  plantation,  fifty  homes  for  every  palace,  and  a 
diversified  industry  that  meets  the  complex  needs  of  this 
complex  age. 

The  new  South  is  enamored  of  her  new  work.  Her 
soul  is  stirred  with  the  breath  of  a  new  life.  The  light 
of  a  grander  day  is  falling  fair  on  her  face.  She  is  thrill- 
ing with  the  consciousness  of  a  growing  power  and  pros- 
perity. As  she  stands  upright,  full-statured  and  equal 
among  the  people  of  the  earth,  breathing  the  keen  air  and 
looking  out  upon  the  expanding  horizon,  she  understands 
that  her  emancipation  came  because  in  the  inscrutable  wis- 
dom of  God  her  honest  purpose  was  crossed,  and  her 
brave  armies  were  beaten. 


210  HENRY  W.  GRADY 

This  is  said  in  no  spirit  of  time-serving  or  apology. 
The  South  has  nothing  for  which  to  apologize.  She  be- 
lieves that  the  late  struggle  between  the  States  was  war 
and  not  rebellion,  revolution  and  not  conspiracy,  and  that 
her  convictions  were  as  honest  as  yours.  I  should  be 
unjust  to  the  dauntless  spirit  of  the  South  and  to  my  own 
convictions  if  I  did  not  make  this  plain  in  this  presence. 
The  South  has  nothing  to  take  back.5  In  my  native  town 
of  Athens  is  a  monument  that  crowns  its  central  hills — a 
plain,  white  shaft.  Deep  cut  into  its  shining  side  is  a 
name  dear  to  me  6  above  the  names  of  men,  that  of  a  brave 
and  simple  man  who  died  in  a  brave  and  simple  faith. 
Not  for  all  the  glories  of  New  England — from  Plymouth 
Rock  all  the  way — would  I  exchange  the  heritage  he  left 
me  in  his  soldier's  death.  To  the  feet  of  that  shaft  I 
shall  send  my  children's  children  to  reverence  him  who 
ennobled  their  name  with  his  heroic  blood.  But,  sir, 
speaking  from  the  shadow  of  that  memory,  which  I  honor 
as  I  do  nothing  else  on  earth,  I  say  that  the  cause  in  which 
he  suffered  and  for  which  he  gave  his  life  was  adjudged 
by  higher  and  fuller  wisdom  than  his  or  mine,  and  I  am 
glad  that  the  omniscient  God  held  the  balance  of  battle 
in  His  Almighty  Hand,  and  that  human  slavery  was 
swept  forever  from  American  soil — the  American  Union 
saved  from  the  wreck  of  war. 

This  message,  Mr.  President,  comes  to  you  from  con- 
secrated ground.  Every  foot  of  the  soil  about  the  city 
in  which  I  live  is  sacred  as  a  battle-ground  of  the  Re- 
public. Every  hill  that  invests  it  is  hallowed  to  you  by 
the  blood  of  your  brothers  who  died  for  your  victory,  and 
double  hallowed  to  us  by  the  blood  of  those  who  died 
hopeless,  but  undaunted,  in  defeat — sacred  soil  to  all  of 
us,  rich  with  memories  that  make  us  purer  and  stronger 
and  better,  silent  but  stanch  witnesses  in  its  red  desolation 
of  the  matchless  valor  of  American  hearts  and  the  death- 


THE  NEW  SOUTH  211 

less  glory  of  American  arms — speaking  an  eloquent  wit- 
ness, in  its  white  peace  and  prosperity,  to  the  indissoluble 
union  of  American  people. 

Now,  what  answer  has  New  England  to  this  message? 
Will  she  permit  the  prejudice  of  war  to  remain  in  the 
hearts  of  the  conquered?  Will  she  transmit  this  preju- 
dice to  the  next  generation,  that  in  their  hearts  which 
never  felt  the  generous  ardor  of  conflict  it  may  perpetuate 
itself?  Will  she  withhold,  save  in  strained  courtesy,  the 
hand  which,  straight  from  his  soldier's  heart,  Grant  of- 
fered to  Lee  at  Appomattox?  Will  she  make  the  vision 
of  a  restored  and  happy  people,  which  gathered  above  the 
couch  of  your  dying  captain,  filling  his  heart  with  grace, 
touching  his  lips  with  praise,  and  glorifying  his  path  to 
the  grave — will  she  make  this  vision  on  which  the  last 
sigh  of  his  expiring  soul  breathed  a  benediction,  a  cheat 
and  delusion?  If  she  does,  the  South,  never  abject  in 
asking  for  comradeship  must  accept  with  dignity  its  re- 
fusal ;  but  if  she  does  not  refuse  to  accept  in  frankness  and 
sincerity  this  message  of  good-will  and  friendship,  then 
will  the  prophecy  of  Webster,  delivered  in  this  very  so- 
ciety forty  years  ago  amid  tremendous  applause,  become 
true,  be  verified  in  its  fullest  sense,  when  he  said :  "  Stand- 
ing hand  to  hand  and  clasping  hands,  we  should  remain 
united  as  we  have  been  for  sixty  years,  citizens  of  the 
same  country,  members  of  the  same  government,  united, 
all  united  now  and  forever.,, 

Can  you  tell  why  the  Civil  War  was  more  destructive  to  the 
South  than  to  the  North? 

Was  Grady  wise  in  praising  the  Old  South  at  the  beginning 
of  his   speech? 

When  the  South  entered  upon  the  Civil  War  was  it  actuated 
by  selfish  ambition,  or  did  it  believe  in  the  justice  and  right- 
eousness of  its  cause  ? 

In  what  respects  did  the  New  South  differ  from  the  Old  ? 

When  the  war  was  over  was  it  the  best  policy  for  the  North 


212  HENRY  W.  GRADY 

to  attempt  to  placate  and  conciliate  the  South  or  to  hold  it  in 
subjection? 

Do  you  think  that  Grady's  reference  to  Dr.  Talmage's  speech 
is  an  instance  of  skillful  transition  and  connection,  or  do  you 
think  that  after  Grady  took  his  place  at  the  table  he  originated 
the  eloquent  description  of  the  Confederate  soldier's  return? 

Would  Grady  have  done  better  not  to  refer  to  his  father's 
record  in  the  war? 

Enumerate  the  instances  in  this  speech  where  Grady  shows 
that  there  is  a  common  sentiment  in  which  the  North  and  the 
South  can  unite. 

Grady  speaks  of  what  new   democracy? 

In  what  sense  does  this  speech  mark  a  period  in  American 
history? 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 

April   10,  1899 

The  Civil  War  determined  the  relation  of  the  Federal 
government  to  the  states,  but  it  took  another  war  to 
settle  its  relation  to  the  other  nations  of  the  world. 
Washington  had  advised  against  entangling  alliances 
with  foreign  powers  and  President  Monroe,  in  his 
famous  message  of  1823,  in  an  attempt  to  promote  the 
peace  and  safety  of  the  United  States  and  to  render 
more  remote  the  possibility  of  clashes  with  European 
nations,  declared  that  henceforth  the  American  conti- 
nents were  not  to  be  colonized  by  foreign  powers.  In 
a  word,  the  United  States  in  the  Monroe  Doctrine  an- 
nounced that  it  denied  to  European  powers  any  action 
that  endangered  the  sovereignty  of  any  American 
nation. 

In  the  course  of  time,  however,  irresponsible  South 
American  governments  discovered  that  after  failing  to 
discharge  their  obligations  to  foreign  nations  they 
might  escape  punishment  by  hiding  behind  the  Monroe 
Doctrine.  Gradually,  therefore,  for  the  sake  of  jus- 
tice, the  United  States  found  it  necessary  to  exercise 
a  certain  degree  of  control  over  the  countries  it  pro- 
tected. Instead  of  assuring  the  United  States  peace- 
ful isolation,  the  Monroe  Doctrine  seemed  to  promise 
to  keep  the  country  perpetually  involved  in  South 
American  affairs  and  to  bring  it  from  time  to  time 
into  grave  danger  of  war  with  Europe. 

The  crisis  came  in  connection  with  the  Cuban  war 
for  independence  in  the  last  years  of  the  century.  Con- 

213 


214  THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 

ditions  in  Cuba  had  become  intolerable.  Business  had 
been  ruined;  thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children 
had  been  shot  or  starved;  and  there  was  no  prospect 
that  Spain  could  maintain  her  sovereignty.  Warnings 
given  by  President  Cleveland  and  President  Mc- 
Kinley  had  been  unheeded.  On  April  19,  1898,  Con- 
gress finally  passed  a  resolution  declaring  Cuba  free. 
War  with  Spain  followed  soon  after. 

The  first  notable  battle  was  fought  May  1,  1898,  by 
Commodore  Dewey  in  Manila  Bay  where  he  totally 
destroyed  the  enemy's  fleet.  The  most  important  land 
battle  was  fought  near  Santiago,  Cuba,  where  Colonel 
Roosevelt  led  a  brilliant  and  successful  assault  on  San 
Juan  Hill.  Before  the  peace  protocol  was  signed  on 
August  13,  the  United  States  had  won  the  Philippines, 
Cuba,  and  other  islands. 

To  win  the  Philippines  proved  to  be  easier  than  to 
know  what  to  do  with  them.  Cuba,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  United  States,  seemed  able  to  rule  itself 
and  was  given  its  independence;  but  the  Philippine 
islands  were  inhabited  largely  by  half-civilized  races 
utterly  unfit  to  govern  themselves.  Were  they  to  be 
handed  back  to  the  misrule  of  Spain,  or  to  be  aban- 
doned to  anarchy  or  the  exploitation  of  some  grasping 
power?  Great  difference  of  opinion  existed  among 
American  statesmen  and  many  were  the  plans  pro- 
posed, but  gradually  it  became  clear  that  the  time  had 
come  when  the  United  States  should  cast  aside  that 
outworn  view  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  that  sought 
for  America  isolation  and  separation  from  the  rest  of 
the  world,  and  should  adopt  a  new,  expanded,  and 
generous  interpretation,  that  would  place  the  country 
among  world  powers  and  would  recognize  an  obliga- 
tion and  duty  to  promote  liberty  and  democracy 
wherever  possible  throughout  the  globe. 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE  215 

More  than  any  other  man,  Theodore  Roosevelt  was 
influential  in  upholding  this  ideal.  He  maintained  that 
it  was  a  relic  of  primitive  civilization  for  a  nation  to 
avoid  physical,  mental,  and  moral  exchange  with  its 
neighbors,  that  only  by  shirking  its  duty  could  it  neg- 
lect to  take  part  in  solving  world  problems,  and  only 
through  blind  stupidity  could  it  fail  to  provide  itself 
with  the  army  and  navy  necessary  to  protect  its  lib- 
erty and  the  liberty  of  others.  He  set  forth  these 
views  in  many  addresses.  The  most  notable,  however, 
was  given  at  the  Hamilton  Club,  in  Chicago,  on  April 
10,  1899.  It  is  called  The  Strenuous  Life.  Its  vision 
is  so  far  in  advance  of  the  views  of  most  American 
statesmen  of  his  time  that  it  seems  like  a  prophecy  of 
the  liberal  American  spirit  that  in  the  world  crisis  of 
191 7  was  to  rise  supreme  over  ignoble  timidity  and  all 
selfish  considerations. 


<Z>  f* 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 

<£> 

Theodore  Roosevelt  & 

In  speaking  to  you,  men  of  the  greatest  city  of  the  West,  ^ 
men  of  the  state  which  gave  to  the  country  Lincoln  and 
Grant,  men  who  pre-eminently  and  distinctly  embody  all 
that  is  most  American  in  the  American  character,  I  wish 
to  preach  not  the  doctrine  of  ignoble  ease  but  the  doctrine 
of  the  strenuous  life;  the  life  of  toil  and  effort;  of  labor 
and  strife;  to  preach  that  highest  form  of  success  which 
comes  not  to  the  man  who  desires  mere  easy  peace,  but  to 
the  man  who  does  not  shrink  from  danger,  from  hardship, 
or  from  bitter  toil,  and  who  out  of  these^wins  the  splendid 
ultimate  triumph. 

A  life  of  ignoble  ease,  a  life  of  that  peace  which  springs 


216  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

merely  from  lack  of  desire  or  of  power  to  strive  after 
great  things,  is  as  little  worthy  of  a  nation  as  of  an  indi- 
vidual. I  ask  only  that  what  every  self-respecting  Ameri- 
can demands  from  himself,  and  from  his  sons,  shall  be 
demanded  of  the  American  nation  as  a  whole.  Who 
among  you  would  teach  your  boys  that  ease,  that  peace,  is 
to  be  the  first  consideration  in  their  eyes,  to  be  the  ulti- 
mate goal  after  which  they  strive?  You  men  of  Chicago 
have  made  this  city  great,  you  men  of  Illinois  have  done 
your  share,  and  more  than  your  share  in  making  America 
great,  because  you  neither  preach  nor  practice  such  a  doc- 
trine. You  work  yourselves  and  you  bring  up  your  sons 
to  work. 

We  do  not  admire  the  man  of  timid  peace.  We  admire 
the  man  who  embodies  victorious  effort;  the  man  who 
never  wrongs  his  neighbor;  who  is  prompt  to  help  a 
friend;  but  who  has  the  virile  qualities  necessary  to  win 
in  the  stern  strife  of  actual  life.  It  is  hard  to  fail;  but 
it  is  worse  never  to  have  tried  to  succeed.  In  this  life 
we  get  nothing  save  by  effort. 

As  it  is  with  the  individual  so  it  is  with  the  nation. 
It  is  a  base  untruth  to  say  that  happy  is  the  nation  that 
'  has  no  history.  Thrice  happy  is  the  nation  that  has  a 
glorious  history.  Far  better  it  is  to  dare  mighty  things, 
to  win  glorious  triumphs,  even  though  checkered  by 
failure,  than  to  take  rank  with  those  poor  spirits  who 
neither  enjoy  much  nor  suffer  much  because  they  live  in 
the  gray  twilight  that  knows  neither  victory  nor  defeat. 
If  in  1 86 1  the  men  who  loved  the  Union  had  believed 
that  peace  was  the  end  of  all  things  and  war  and  strife 
the  worst  of  all  things,  and  had  acted  up  to  their  belief, 
we  would  have  saved  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives,  we 
would  have  saved  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars.  More- 
over, besides,  saving  all  the  blood  and  treasure  we  then 
lavished,   we   would   have   prevented   the   heart-break  of 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE  217 

many  women,  the  dissolution  of  many  homes;  and  we 
would  have  spared  the  country  those  months  of  gloom  and 
shame  when  it  seemed  as  if  our  armies  marched  only  to 
defeat.  We  could  have  avoided  all  this  suffering,  simply 
by  shrinking  from  strife.  And  if  we  had  thus  avoided  it, 
we  would  have  shown  that  we  were  weaklings  and  that 
we  were  unfit  to  stand  among  the  great  nations  of  the 
earth.  Thank  God  for  the  iron  in  the  blood  of  our 
fathers,  the  men  who  upheld  the  wisdom  of  Lincoln  and 
bore  sword  or  rifle  in  the  armies  of  Grant!  Let  us,  the 
children  of  the  men  who  proved  themselves  equal  to  the 
mighty  days — let  us,  the  children  of  the  men  who  carried 
the  great  Civil  War  to  a  triumphant  conclusion,  praise  the 
God  of  our  fathers  that  the  ignoble  counsels  of  peace  were 
rejected,  that  the  suffering  and  loss,  the  blackness  of  sor- 
row and  despair,  were  unflinchingly  faced,  and  the  years 
of  strife  endured;  for  in  the  end  the  slave  was  freed, 
the  Union  restored,  and  the  mighty  American  re- 
public placed  once  more  as  a  helmeted  queen  among  the 
nations. 

If  we  are  to  be  a  really  great  people,  we  must  strive  in 
good  faith  to  play  a  great  part  in  the  world.  We  cannot 
avoid  meeting  great  issues.  All  that  we  can  determine 
for  ourselves  is  whether  we  shall  meet  them  well  or  ill. 
In  1898  we  could  not  help  being  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  problem  of  war  with  Spain.  All  we  could 
decide  was  whether  we  should  shrink  like  cowards  from 
the  contest,  or  enter  it  as  beseemed  a  brave  and  high- 
spirited  people;  and,  once  in,  whether  failure  or  success 
should  crown  our  banners.  So  it  is  now.  We  cannot 
avoid  the  responsibilities  that  confront  us  in  Hawaii, 
Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  and  the  Philippines.  All  we  can 
decide  is  whether  we  shall  meet  them  in  a  way  that  will 
redound  to  the  national  credit,  or  whether  we  shall  make 
our   dealings  with   these  new  problems  a   dark   and 


" 


218  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

shameful  page  in  our  history.  To  refuse  to  deal  with 
them  at  all  merely  amounts  to  dealing  with  them  badly. 
We  have  a  given  problem  to  solve.  If  we  undertake  the 
solution,  there  is,  of  course,  always  danger  that  we  may 
not  solve  it  aright;  but  to  refuse  to  undertake  the  solu- 
tion simply  renders  it  certain  that  we  cannot  possibly  solve 
it  aright.  The  timid  man,  the  lazy  man,  the  man  who 
distrusts  his  country,  the  over-civilized  man,  who  has  lost 
the  great  fighting,  masterful  virtues,  the  ignorant  man, 
and  the  man  of  dull  mind,  whose  soul  is  incapable  of 
feeling  the  mighty  life  that  thrills  "  stern  men  with 
empires  in  their  brains  " — all  these,  of  course,  shrink  from 
seeing  the  nation  undertake  its  new  duties;  shrink  from 
seeing  us  build  a  navy  and  an  army  adequate  to  our 
needs;  shrink  from  seeing  us  do  our  share  of  the  world's 
work,  by  bringing  order  out  of  chaos  in  the  great,  fair 
tropic  islands  from  which  the  valor  of  our  soldiers  and 
sailors  has  driven  the  Spanish  flag.  These  are  the  men 
who  fear  the  strenuous  life,  who  fear  the  only  national 
life  which  is  really  worth  leading.  They  believe  in  that 
cloistered  life  which  saps  the  hardy  virtues  in  a  nation, 
as  it  saps  them  in  the  individual ;  or  else  they  are  wedded 
to  that  base  spirit  of  gain  and  greed  which  recognizes  in 
commercialism  the  be-all  and  end-all  of  national  life, 
instead  of  realizing  that,  though  an  indispensable  element, 
it  is,  after  all,  but  one  of  the  many  elements  that  go  to 
make  up  true  national  greatness.  •  No  country  can  long 
endure  if  its  foundations  are  not  laid  deep  in  the  mate- 
rial prosperity  which  comes  from  thrift,  from  business 
energy  and  enterprise,  from  hard,  unsparing  effort  in 
the  fields  of  industrial  activity;  but  neither  was  any  na- 
tion ever  yet  truly  great  if  it  relied  upon  material  pros- 
perity alone.  All  honor  must  be  paid  to  the  architects  o£ 
our  material  prosperity,  to  the  great  captains  of  industry 
who  have  built  our  factories  and  our  railroads,  to  the 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE  219 

strong  men  who  toil  for  wealth  with  brain  or  hand;  for 
great  is  the  debt  of  the  nation  to  these  and  their  kind. 
But  our  debt  is  yet  greater  to  the  men  whose  highest  type 
is  to  be  found  in  a  statesman  like  Lincoln,  a  soldier  like 
Grant.  They  showed  by  their  lives  that  they  recognized 
the  law  of  work,  the  law  of  strife;  they  toiled  to  win  a 
competence  for  themselves  and  those  dependent  upon 
them;  but  they  recognized  that  there  were  yet  other  and 
even  loftier  duties — duties  to  the  nation  and  duties  to 
the  race. 

We  cannot  sit  huddled  within  our  own  borders  and 
avow  ourselves  merely  an  assemblage  of  well-to-do  huck- 
sters who  care  nothing  for  what  happens  beyond.  Such 
a  policy  would  defeat  even  its  own  end ;  for  as  the  nations 
grow  to  have  ever  wider  and  wider  interests,  and  are 
brought  into  closer  and  closer  contact,  if  we  are  to  hold 
our  own  in  the  struggle  for  naval  and  commercial  su- 
premacy, we  must  build  up  our  power  without  our  own 
borders.  We  must  build  the  isthmian  canal,  and  we  must 
grasp  the  points  of  vantage  which  will  enable  us  to  have 
our  say  in  deciding  the  destiny  of  the  oceans  of  the  East 
and  the  West. 

So  much  for  the  commercial  side.  From  the  standpoint 
of  international  honor  the  argument  is  even  stronger. 
The  guns  that  thundered  off  Manila  and  Santiago  left 
us  echoes  of  glory,  but  they  also  left  us  a  legacy  of  duty. 
If  we  drove  out  a  mediaeval  tyranny  only  to  make  room 
for  savage  anarchy,  we  had  better  not  have  begun  the 
task  at  all.  It  is  worse  than  idle  to  say  that  we  have  no 
duty  to  perform  and  can  leave  to  their  fates  the  islands 
we  have  conquered.  Such  a  course  would  be  the  course 
of  infamy.  It  would  be  followed  at  once  by  utter  chaos 
in  the  wretched  islands  themselves.  Some  stronger,  man- 
lier power  would  have  to  step  in  and  do  the  work;  and 
we  would   have  shown   ourselves  weaklings,   unable   to 


220  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

carry  to  successful  completion  the  labors  that  great  and 
high-spirited  nations  are  eager  to  undertake. 

The  work  must  be  done.  We  cannot  escape  our  re- 
sponsibility, and  if  we  are  worth  our  salt,  we  shall  be  glad 
of  the  chance  to  do  the  work — glad  of  the  chance  to  show 
ourselves  equal  to  one  of  the  great  tasks  set  modern  civi- 
lization. But  let  us  not  deceive  ourselves  as  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  task.  Let  us  not  be  misled  by  vain  glory 
into  underestimating  the  strain  it  will  put  on  our  powers. 
Above  all,  let  us,  as  we  value  our  own  self-respect,  face 
the  responsibilities  with  proper  seriousness,  courage,  and 
high  resolve.  We  must  demand  the  highest  order  of  in- 
tegrity and  ability  in  our  public  men  who  are  to  grapple 
with  these  new  problems.  We  must  hold  to  a  rigid  ac- 
countability those  public  servants  who  show  unfaithfulness 
to  the  interests  of  the  nation  or  inability  to  rise  to  the 
high  level  of  the  new  demands  upon  our  strength  and  our 
resources. 

Our  army  needs  complete  reorganization1 — not  merely 
enlarging — and  the  reorganization  can  only  come  as  the 
result  of  legislation.  A  proper  general  staff  should  be. 
established,  and  the  positions  of  ordnance,  commissary, 
and  quartermaster  officers  should  be  filled  by  detail  from 
the  line.  Above  all,  the  army  must  be  given  a  chance  to 
exercise  in  large  bodies.  Never  again  should  we  see,  as 
we  saw  in  the  Spanish  War,  major-generals  in  command 
of  divisions  who  had  never  commanded  three  companies 
together  in  the  field.  Yet,  incredible  to  relate,  the  recent 
Congress  has  shown  a  queer  inability  to  learn  some  of  the 
lessons  of  the  war.  There  were  large  bodies  of  men  in 
both  branches  who  opposed  the  declaration  of  war,  who 
opposed  the  ratification  of  peace,  who  opposed  the  up- 
building of  the  army,  and  who  even  opposed  the  purchase 
of  armor  at  a  reasonable  price  for  the  battleships  and 
cruisers,  thereby  putting  an  absolute  stop  to  the  building 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE  221 

of  any  new  fighting  ships  for  the  navy.  If  during  the 
years  to  come  any  disaster  should  befall  our  arms,  afloat 
or  ashore,  and  thereby  any  shame  come  to  the  United 
States,  remember  that  the  blame  will  lie  upon  the  men 
whose  names  appear  upon  the  roll-calls  of  Congress  on 
the  wrong  side  of  these  great  questions.  On  them  will 
lie  the  burden  of  any  loss  of  our  soldiers  and  sailors,  of 
any  dishonor  to  the  flag;  and  upon  you  and  the  people 
of  the  country  will  lie  the  blame,  if  you  do  not  repudiate, 
in  no  unmistakable  way,  what  these  men  have  done.  The 
blame  will  not  rest  upon  the  untrained  commander  of 
untried  troops;  upon  the  civil  officers  of  a  department, 
the  organization  of  which  has  been  left  utterly  inadequate ; 
or  upon  the  admiral  with  insufficient  number  of  ships; 
but  upon  the  public  men  who  have  so  lamentably  failed 
in  the  forethought  as  to  refuse  to  remedy  these  evils  long 
in  advance,  and  upon  the  nation  that  stands  behind  those 
public  men. 

The  army  and  navy  are  the  sword  and  the  shield  which 
this  nation  must  carry  if  she  is  to  do  her  duty  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth — if  she  is  not  to  stand  merely  as  the 
China  of  the  Western  Hemisphere.  Our  proper  conduct 
toward  the  tropic  islands  we  have  wrested  from  Spain 
is  merely  the  form  which  our  duty  has  taken  at  the  mo- 
ment. Of  course,  we  are  bound  to  handle  the  affairs  of 
our  own  household  well.  We  must  see  that  there  is  civic 
hor^sty,  civic  cleanliness,  civic  good  sense  in  our  home 
administration  of  city,  state,  and  nation.  We  must  strive 
for  honesty  in  office,  for  honesty  towards  the  creditors 
of  the  nation  and  of  the  individual;  for  the  widest  free- 
dom of  individual  initiative  where  possible  and  for  the 
wisest  control  of  individual  initiative  where  it  is  hostile 
to  the  welfare  of  the  many.  But  because  we  set  our  own 
household  in  order,  we  are  not  thereby  excused  from  play- 
ing our  part  in  the  great  affairs  of  the  world.     A  man's 


222  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

first  duty  is  to  his  own  home,  but  he  is  not  thereby  excused 
from  doing  his  duty  to  the  state;  for  if  he  fails  in  this 
second  duty  it  is  under  the  penalty  of  ceasing  to  be  a  free- 
man. In  the  same  way,  while  a  nation's  first  duty  is 
within  its  own  borders,  it  is  not  thereby  absolved  from 
facing  its  duties  in  the  world  as  a  whole ;  and  if  it  refuses 
to  do  so,  it  merely  forfeits  its  rights  to  struggle  for  a  place 
among  the  peoples  that  shape  the  destiny  of  mankind. 

I  have  scant  patience  with  those  who  fear  to  undertake 
the  task  of  governing  the  Philippines,  and  who  openly 
avow  that  they  do  fear  to  undertake  it,  or  that  they  shrink 
from  it  because  of  the  expense  and  trouble;  but  I  have 
even  scanter  patience  with  those  who  make  a  pretense  of 
humanitarianism  to  hide  and  cover  their  timidity,  and 
who  cant  about  "  liberty  "  and  "  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned," in  order  to  excuse  themselves  for  the  unwilling- 
ness to  play  the  part  of  men.  Their  doctrines,  if  carried 
out,  would  make  it  incumbent  upon  us  to  leave  the 
Apaches  of  Arizona  to  work  out  their  own  salvation  and 
to  decline  to  interfere  in  a  single  Indian  reservation. 
Their  doctrines  condemn  your  forefathers  and  mine  for 
ever  having  settled  in  these  United  States. 

When  once  we  have  put  down  armed  resistance,  when 
once  our  rule  is  acknowledged,  then  an  even  more  diffi- 
cult task  will  begin,  for  then  we  must  see  to  it  that  the 
islands  are  administered  with  absolute  honesty  and  with 
good  judgment.  If  we  let  the  public  service  of  the 
islands  be  turned  into  the  prey  of  the  spoils  politician  we 
shall  have  begun  to  tread  the  path  which  Spain  trod  to 
her  own  destruction.  We  must  send  out  there  only  good 
and  able  men,  chosen  for  their  fitness,  and  not  because  of 
their  partisan  service;  and  these  men  must  not  only  ad- 
minister impartial  justice  to  the  natives  and  serve  their 
own  government  with  honesty  and  fidelity,  but  they  must 
also  show  the  utmost  tact  and  firmness,  remembering  that 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE  223 

with  such  people  as  those  with  whom  we  are  to  deal  weak- 
ness is  the  greatest  of  crimes,  and  that  next  to  weakness 
comes  lack  of  consideration  for  their  principles  and  preju- 
dices. 

)  I  preach  to  you,  then,  my  countrymen,  that  our  country 
calls  not  for  the  life  of  ease,  but  for  the  life  of  strenuous 
endeavor.  The  twentieth  century  looms  before  us  big 
with  the  fate  of  many  nations.  If  we  stand  idly  by,  if 
we  seek  merely  swollen,  slothful  ease,  and  ignoble  peace,2 
if  we  shrink  from  the  hard  contests  where  men  must  win 
at  hazard  of  their  lives  and  at  the  risk  of  all  they  hold 
dear,  then  the  bolder  and  the  stronger  peoples  will  pass  us 
by  and  will  win  for  themselves  the  domination  of  the 
world.3  Let  us  therefore  boldly  face  the  life  of  strife, 
resolute  to  do  our  duty  well  and  manfully;  resolute  to 
uphold  righteousness  by  deed  and  by  word ;  resolute  to  be 
both  honest  and  grave  to  serve  high  ideals,  yet  to  use 
practical  methods.  Above  all,  let  us  shrink  from  no  strife, 
moral  or  physical,  within  or  without  the  nation,  provided 
that  we  are  certain  that  the  strife  is  justified ;  for  it  is  only 
through  strife,  through  hard  and  dangerous  endeavor, 
that  we  shall  ultimately  win  the  goal  of  true  national 
greatness. 

Is  "  happy  is  the  nation  that  has  no  history "  true  from  the 
point  of  view  of  modern  historical  method? 

Compare  the  great  issues  of  which  Roosevelt  spoke  in  1899 
with  those  that  confronted  Wilson  in  191 6. 

What  do  you  think  of  Roosevelt's  practical  politics  as  reflected 
in  his  reference  to  the  roll-calls  of  Congress? 

In  what  respects  is  peace  for  man  or  nation  not  an  end  in 
itself? 

Nietzsche  said  "  live  dangerously."  Looking  at  the  matter 
from  a  broad  point  of  view,  which  do  you  think  is  the  better 
habit,  peace  or  strife? 

In  what  respects  did  Roosevelt  by  means  of  this  speech 
attempt  to  alter  the  military  policy  of  the  United  States? 

Did    Roosevelt    recommend    this    change    in    military    policy 


224  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

through  nervousness,  a  belligerent  disposition,  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  public  affairs,  or  vision? 

Does  this  speech  in  your  opinion  preserve  a  proper  balance 
between  physical  power  and  moral  duty? 

How  did  the  Spanish  War  affect  the  foreign  policy  of  the 
United   States? 

Was  the  new  policy  more  democratic  or  less  democratic  than 
the    old? 

In  what  senses  did  the  United  States  at  the  end  of  Spanish 
War  become  a  world  power? 

Was  Washington's  advice  against  entangling  alliances  bad, 
was  it  outworn,  or  had  it  been  misinterpreted? 

Is  Roosevelt  truly  democratic  when  he  denies  the  right  of 
self-government  to  Apaches   and  savage  Philippinos? 

Does  Roosevelt  in  this  speech  recognize,  in  the  words  of 
Lincoln,  "  a  new  birth  of  freedom  "  ? 

Is  Roosevelt  in  this  speech  urging  America  to  work  for  selfish 
ends,  or  is  he  advocating  national  altruism? 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS 

September   5,    1914 

The  twenty-eighth  of  June,  1914,  will  probably  be 
taken  by  historians  as  the  beginning  of  the  Great 
War.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  war  was  the  inevitable 
outgrowth  of  a  very  insidious  development  that  can  be 
traced  as  far  back  as  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  and 
the  resulting  diplomatic  agreements  of  the  Congress  of 
Vienna. 

As  a  consequence  of  secret  conventions  made  at  this 
conference,  liberty  and  democracy  found  thereafter 
their  haven  in  the  freedom-loving  lands  of  England 
and  France,  while  autocracy  and  absolutism  were  nour- 
ished in  Germany,  Austria,  and  Russia.  France  de- 
veloped a  republican  form  of  government,  and  her 
people  like  the  people  of  England  decided  for  them- 
selves how  they  were  to  be  ruled.  In  Germany,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  Prussian  military  clique,  under  the 
leadership  of  the  Kaiser,  seized  the  reins  of  state  and 
drove  the  people  into  a  highly  organized  system  of 
autocratic  control. 

The  constitution  of  Germany,  in  contrast  with  that 
of  the  United  States,  was  made  by  hereditary  rulers 
and  never  was  approved  by  vote  of  the  people.  Not 
even  the  Kaiser  was  accountable  directly  to  his  sub- 
jects, for  he  maintained  that  he  ruled  by  Divine  Right. 
The  chief  legislative  body  of  the  Empire  was  the 
Bundesrath,  the  members  of  which  were  appointed  by 
the  rulers  of  the  various  German  states.  As  the 
Kaiser  had  twenty  votes  in  this  council  of  sixty-one 

225 


226  THE  CALL  TO  ARMS 

members,  he  was  able  both  to  control  legislation  and, 
with  the  use  of  but  fourteen  of  his  votes,  to  block 
changes  in  the  constitution.  The  Reichstag,  the  popu- 
lar assembly,  was  given  very  little  political  power  and 
was  utterly  unable  to  secure  for  Germany  democratic 
government.  Constitutional  or  other  radical  reform 
could  come  only  through  revolution. 

When  in  187 1  at  the  time  of  the  Franco-Prussian 
war,  the  German  army  in  eight  months  overran  France 
and  secured  an  indemnity  of  $1,000,000,000,  and  the 
two  invaluable  provinces  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  the 
German  rulers  became  war-mad  and  lost  their  desire 
to  win  greatness  slowly  through  the  arts  of  peace. 
They  planned  to  found  a  great  empire  by  means  of  the 
sword.  Year  after  year  they  drilled,  increased,  and 
perfected  their  army  until  it  became  the  most  formi- 
dable in  Europe.  In  1900  they  began  to  construct  a 
powerful  navy.  So  the  power  of  the  military  authori- 
ties grew  until  it  might  be  said  that  Germany  was  not 
a  country  that  possessed  an  army ;  it  was  an  army  that 
possessed  a  country. 

In  a  shameless  way,  moreover,  the  German  people 
furthered  the  plan  of  their  rulers  for  conquest  and 
dominion.  They  submitted  blindly  to  arbitrary  au- 
thority. They  planned  to  build  in  time  a  railway 
which  was  to  extend  from  Berlin  to  Bagdad  and 
was  to  be  the  artery  of  a  greater  German  Empire  that 
would  in  time  add  to  Austria,  Bulgaria,  and  Turkey, 
and  Persia,  and  India. 

In  1 91 4  the  Kiel  naval  canal  connecting  the  North 
Sea  and  the  Baltic  was  completed.  The  Great  Army 
bill  of  191 3  had  brought  the  army  to  an  unprecedented 
size,  and  it  had  been  drilled  until  it  was  fit.  All  was 
ready.  But  little  Servia  was  in  the  way.  The  Bagdad 
railway  passed  through  her  territories  and  she  placed 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  ^27 

a  hostile  barrier  between  Germany  and  her  allies  on  the 
east. 

On  June  28,  1914,  a  son  of  the  Emperor  of  Aus- 
tria was  murdered  by  a  Serb  in  Sarajevo.  Austria 
seemed  to  be  convinced  that  Servia  had  planned  the 
assassination  because  of  her  objection  to  Austria's  con- 
trol of  Bosnia  and  other  Serb  provinces.  On  July  23, 
1914,  Austria  sent  Servia  an  insulting  ultimatum. 
Servia,  however,  granted  all  that  was  asked  excepting 
permission  for  Austrian  officials  to  sit  in  Servian 
courts.  Austria,  nevertheless,  refused  to  accept  this 
answer  and  on  July  28,  1914,  declared  war  on  Servia. 
On  August  I,  Germany,  which  had  already  begun  gath- 
ering her  troops,  declared  war  on  Russia,  giving  as  her 
reason  the  statement  that  the  latter  nation  was  begin- 
ning to  mobilize. 

War  with  France  was  the  inevitable  outcome.  Ger- 
man military  leaders  knew  that  the  theater  of 
war  would  be  west  of  the  Rhine  and  pre- 
pared to  carry  out  their  plans  for  attacking  France 
through  Belgium,  the  neutrality  of  which  had 
been  guaranteed  by  the  treaties  of  1839  and 
1870,  in  which  France,  Prussia,  and  Great  Britain 
were  parties.  When  Germany  in  spite  of  all 
pledges  crossed  the  border  and  violated  the  neutrality 
of  Belgium,  Great  Britain  declared  war  on  Germany, 
and  on  August  1  with  her  army  of  150,000  began  to 
help  preserve  the  sovereignty  of  the  little  country.  The 
heroic  and  unexpected  resistance  on  the  part  of  the 
Belgians  delayed  the  Germans  in  their  march  to  Paris, 
and  it  was  August  24  before  the  frontiers  of  France 
were  sighted.  In  September  came  the  great  battle  of 
the  Marne  in  which  the  French  under  Marshal  Joffre 
disastrously  drove  back  the  Germans  and  saved  the 
yorld^for  democracy.     Defeated  in  their  initial  sur- 


world. 


228  H.  H.  ASQUITH 

prise  attack,  Germany  resorted  to  trench  warfare  and 
defensive  tactics. 

Germany's  invasion  of  Belgium  aroused  every  man 
and  woman  in  England.  On  August  28,  1914,  Premier 
Asquith  addressed  a  note  to  the  Lord  Mayor  of  Lon- 
don, the  Lord  Provost  of  Edinburgh,  the  Lord  Mayor 
of  Dublin,  and  the  Lord  Mayor  of  Cardiff,  in  which  he 
advocated  the  holding  of  public  meetings  to  make  plain 
the  justice  of  England's  cause.  The  response  was  most 
enthusiastic.  The  offer  of  Mr.  Asquith  to  assist  this 
movement  by  addressing  such  meetings  was  accepted 
by  the  heads  of  the  four  cities,  and  in  September  the 
Prime  Minister  delivered  four  memorable  addresses 
summoning  Great  Britain  to  arms.  Thousands  of  peo- 
ple were  turned  away  from  the  great  Guildhall  in  the 
city  of  London  on  the  evening  of  September  5,  1914, 
when  the  address  known  as  The  Call  to  Arms  was  de- 
livered. Through  the  throng  that  heard  him,  he  spoke 
to  the  people  not  only  of  Engand  but  of  the  whole 
British  Empire,  calling  them  to  rise  as  one  to  save 
Europe  by  their  example.  The  patriotic  ardor  with 
which  the  address  was  received  was  truly  prophetic  of 
the  zeal  and  unanimity  of  the  military  response. 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS 

H.  H.  Asquith 

My  Lord  Mayor  and  Citizens  of  London:  It  is 
three  and  a  half  years  since  I  last  had  the  honor  of  ad- 
dressing in  this  hall  a  gathering  of  the  citizens.  We  were 
then  met  under  the  presidency  of  one  of  your  predecessors, 
men  of  all  creeds  and  parties,  to  celebrate  and  approve  the 
joint  declaration  of  the  two  great  English-speaking  states 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  229 

that  for  the  future  any  differences  between  them  should 
be  settled,  if  not  by  agreement,  at  least  by  judicial  inquiry 
and  arbitration,  and  never  in  any  circumstances  by  war. 
[Cheers.]  Those  of  us  who  hailed  that  great  Eirenicon  * 
between  the  United  States  and  ourselves  as  a  landmark  on 
the  road  of  progress  were  not  sanguine  enough  to  think, 
or  even  to  hope,  the  era  of  war  was  drawing  to  a 
close.  But  still  less  were  we  prepared  to  anticipate  the 
terrible  spectacle  which  now  confronts  us  of  a  contest 
which  for  the  number  and  importance  of  the  powers 
engaged,  the  scale  of  their  armaments  and  armies,  the 
width  of  the  theatre  of  conflict,  the  outpouring  of  blood 
and  the  loss  of  life,  the  incalculable  toll  of  suffering  levied 
upon  non-combatants,  the  material  and  moral  loss  ac- 
cumulating day  by  day  to  the  higher  interests  of  civilized 
mankind — a  contest  which  in  every  one  of  these  aspects  is 
without  precedent  in  the  annals  of  the  world.  [Hear, 
hear!]  We  were  very  confident  three  years  ago  in  the 
rightness  of  our  position,  when  we  welcomed  the  new 
securities  for  peace.  We  are  equally  confident  in  it  to-day, 
when  reluctantly,  and  against  our  will,  but  with  a  clear 
judgment  and  a  clean  conscience,  [cheers]  we  find  our- 
selves involved  with  the  whole  strength  of  this  empire  in 
a  bloody  arbitration  between  might  and  right.  The  issue 
has  passed  out  of  the  domain  of  argument  into  another 
field,  but  let  me  ask  you,  and  through  you  the  world  out- 
side, what  would  have  been  our  condition  as  a  nation  to- 
day if  we  had  been  base  enough  through  timidity  or 
through  perverted  calculation  of  self-interest,  or  through 
a  paralysis  of  the  sense  of  honor  and  duty,  [cheers]  if  we 
had  been  base  enough  to  be  false  to  our  word  and  faithless 
to  our  friends? 

Our  eyes  would  have  been  turned  at  this  moment  with 
those  of  the  whole  civilized  world  to  Belgium,  a  small 
state,  which  has  lived  for  more  than  seventy  years  under 


23o  H.  H.  ASQUITH 

the  several  and  collective  guarantees  to  which  we  in  com- 
mon with  Prussia  and  Austria  were  parties,  and  we  should 
have  seen  at  the  instance  and  by  the  action  of  two  of  these 
guaranteeing  powers  her  neutrality  violated,  her  inde- 
pendence strangled,  her  territory  made  use  of  as  affording 
the  easiest  and  the  most  convenient  road  to  a  war  of  un- 
provoked aggression  against  France.  We,  the  British 
people,  would  at  this  moment  have  been  standing  by  with 
folded  arms  and  with  such  countenance  as  we  could  com- 
mand while  this  small  and  unprotected  State,  in  defense  of 
her  vital  liberties,  made  a  heroic  stand  against  overween- 
ing and  overwhelming  force;  we  should  have  been  admir- 
ing as  detached  spectators  the  siege  of  Liege,  the  steady 
and  manful  resistance  of  a  small  army  to  the  occupation  of 
their  capital,  with  its  splendid  traditions  and  memories, 
the  gradual  forcing  back  of  the  patriotic  defenders  of  their 
native  land  to  the  ramparts  of  Antwerp,  countless  out- 
rages inflicted  by  buccaneering  levies  exacted  from  the 
unoffending  civil  population,  and,  finally,  the  greatest 
crime  committed  against  civilization  and  culture  since  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  the  sack  of  Louvain,2  [Cries  of 
Shame!]  with  its  buildings,  its  pictures,  its  unique  library, 
its  unrivaled  associations — a  shameless  holocaust  of  irre- 
parable treasures  lit  up  by  blind  barbarian  vengeance. 
[Prolonged  cheers.]  What  account  should  we,  the  Gov- 
ernment and  the  people  of  this  country,  have  been  able 
to  render  to  the  tribunal  of  our  national  conscience  and 
sense  of  honor  if,  in  defiance  of  our  plighted  and  solemn 
obligations,  we  had  endured,  nay,  if  we  had  not  done  our 
best  to  prevent,  yes,  and  to  avenge,  these  intolerable  out- 
rages ?  For  my  part  I  say  that  sooner  than  be  a  silent  wit- 
ness— which  means  in  effect  a  willing  accomplice — of  this 
tragic  triumph  of  force  over  law  and  of  brutality  over 
freedom,  I  would  see  this  country  of  ours  blotted  out  of 
the  pages  of  history.     [Prolonged  cheers.] 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  231 

That  is  only  a  phase — a  lurid  and  illuminating  phase 
in  the  contest  in  which  we  have  been  called  by  the  man- 
date of  duty  and  of  honor  to  bear  our  part.  The  cynical 
violation  of  the  neutrality  of  Belgium  was,  after  all,  but 
a  step — the  first  step — in  a  deliberate  policy  of  wThich, 
if  not  the  immediate,  the  ultimate,  and  the  not  far  dis- 
tant aim,  was  to  crush  the  independence  and  autonomy 
of  the  free  states  of  Europe.  First  Belgium,  then  Hol- 
land, then  Switzerland,  countries  like  our  own,  imbued 
and  sustained  with  the  spirit  of  liberty,  were  one  after 
another  to  be  bent  to  the  yoke,  and  these  ambitions  were 
fed  and  fostered  by  a  body  of  new  doctrines  and  new 
philosophies  preached  by  professors  and  learned  men. 
The  free  and  full  self-development  which  to  these  small 
states,  to  ourselves,  to  our  great  and  growing  dominions 
over  the  seas,  to  our  kinsmen  across  the  Atlantic,  is  the 
well-spring  and  life-breath  of  national  existence — that 
free  self-development  is  the  one  capital  offense  in  the  code 
of  those  who  have  made  force  their  supreme  divinity,  and 
who  upon  its  altars  are  prepared  to  sacrifice  both  the 
gathered  fruits  and  the  potential  germs  of  the  unfettered 
human  spirit.  I  use  this  language  advisedly.  This  is 
not  merely  a  material;  it  is  also  a  spiritual  conflict. 
[Cheers.]  Upon  its  issues,  everything  that  contains 
promise  and  hope,  that  leads  to  emancipation  and  a  fuller 
liberty  for  the  millions  who  make  up  the  mass  of  man- 
kind, will  be   found   sooner  or  later  to  depend. 

Let  me  now  just  for  a  moment  turn  to  the  actual  situ- 
ation in  Europe.  How  do  we  stand?  For  the  last  ten 
years,  by  what  I  believe  to  be  happy  and  well-considered 
diplomatic  arrangements,  we  have  established  friendly  and 
increasingly  intimate  relations  with  the  two  powers,  France 
and  Russia,  with  whom,  in  days  gone  by,  we  have  had  in 
various  parts  of  the  world  occasion  for  constant  friction, 
and  now  and  again  for  possible  conflict.    Those  new  and 


232  H.  H.  ASQUITH 

better  relations,  based  in  the  first  instance  upon  business 
principles  of  give  and  take,  matured  into  a  settled  temper 
of  confidence  and  good-will.  They  were  never  in  any 
sense  or  at  any  time,  as  I  have  frequently  said  in  this 
hall,  directed  against  other  powers.  No  man  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  has  ever  labored  more  strenuously  or 
more  successfully  than  my  right  honorable  friend  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  3  [cheers]  for  that  which  is  the  supreme  inter- 
est of  the  modern  world,  a  general  and  abiding  peace.  It 
is,  I  venture  to  think,  a  very  superficial  criticism  which 
suggests  that  under  his  guidance  the  policy  of  this  country 
has  ignored,  still  less  that  it  has  counteracted  and  ham- 
pered, the  concert  of  Europe.  It  is  little  more  than  a 
year  ago  that  under  his  presidency,  in  the  stress  and  strain 
of  the  Balkan  crisis,  the  ambassadors  of  all  the  great 
powers  met  here  day  after  day  curtailing  the  area  of 
possible  differences,  reconciling  warring  ambitions  and 
aims,  and  preserving  against  almost  incalculable  odds  the 
general  harmony.  And  it  was  in  the  same  spirit  and  with 
the  same  purpose,  when  a  few  weeks  ago  Austria  delivered 
her  ultimatum  to  Servia,  that  our  foreign  secretary  put 
forward  the  proposal  for  a  mediating  conference  between 
the  four  powers  who  were  not  directly  concerned — Ger- 
many, France,  Italy,  and  ourselves.  If  that  proposal  had 
been  accepted,  actual  controversy  would  have  been  settled 
with  honor  to  everybody,  the  whole  of  this  terrible  welter 
would  have  been  avoided.     [Hear,  hear!] 

And  with  whom  does  the  responsibility  rest  [cries  of 
The  Kaiser!]  for  this  refusal  and  for  all  the  illimitable 
suffering  which  now  confronts  the  world?  One  power 
and  one  power  only,  and  that  power — Germany.  [Loud 
hisses.]  That  is  the  front  and  origin  of  this  world-wide 
catastrophe.  We  are  persevering  to  the  end.  No  one 
who  has  not  been  confronted  as  we  were  with  the  respon- 
sibility of  determining  the  issues  of  peace  and  war  can 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  233 

realize  the  strength  and  energy  and  persistency  with  which 
we  have  labored  for  peace.  We  persevered  by  every  ex- 
pedient that  diplomacy  could  suggest,  straining  almost  to 
the  breaking  point  our  most  cherished  friendships  and 
obligations,  even  to  the  last,  making  effort  upon  effort, 
and  hoping  against  hope.  Then,  and  only  then,  when  we 
were  at  last  compelled  to  realize  that  the  choice  lay  be- 
tween honor  and  dishonor,  between  treachery  and  good 
faith,  when  at  last  we  reached  the  dividing  line  which 
makes  or  mars  a  nation  worthy  of  the  name,  it  was  then, 
and  then  only,  that  we  declared  for  war.  Is  there  any 
one  in  this  hall  or  in  this  United  Kingdom  or  in  the  vast 
empire  of  which  we  here  stand  in  the  capital  and  centre 
who  blames  or  repents  our  decision?  [Cries  of  No!] 
For  these  reasons,  as  I  believe,  we  must  steel  ourselves  to 
the  task,  and  in  the  spirit  which  animated  our  forefathers 
in  their  struggle  against  the  domination  of  Napoleon  we 
must  and  we  shall  persevere  to  the  end.     [Cheers.] 

It  would  be  a  criminal  mistake  to  underestimate  either 
the  magnitude,  the  fighting  quality,  or  the  staying  power 
of  the  forces  which  are  arrayed  against  us.  But  it  would 
be  equally  foolish  and  equally  indefensible  to  belittle  our 
own  resources,  whether  for  resistance  or  attack.  Bel- 
gium has  shown  us  by  a  memorable  and  a  glorious  example 
what  can  be  done  by  a  relatively  small  State  when  its 
citizens  are  animated  and  fired  by  the  spirit  of  patriotism. 
In  France  and  Russia  we  have  as  allies  two  of  the  great- 
est powers  of  the  world  engaged  with  us  in  a  common 
cause,  who  do  not  mean  to  separate  4  themselves  from  us 
any  more  than  we  mean  to  separate  ourselves  from  them. 
We  have  upon  the  seas  the  strongest  and  most  magnificent 
fleet  that  has  ever  been  seen.  The  expeditionary  force 
which  left  our  shores  less  than  a  month  ago  has  never 
been  surpassed,  as  its  glorious  achievements  in  the  field 
have  already  made  clear,  not  only  in  material  and  equip- 


234  H.  H.  ASQUITH 

ment  but  in  the  physical  and  the  moral  quality  of  its  con- 
stituents.    [Cheers.] 

As  regards  the  navy,  I  am  sure  my  right  honorable 
friend  (Mr.  Winston  Churchill)  will  tell  you  there  is 
happily  little  more  to  be  done.  I  do  not  flatter  it  when 
I  say  that  its  superiority  is  equally  marked  in  every  de- 
partment and  sphere  of  its  activity.  [Cheers.]  We  rely 
on  it  with  the  most  absolute  confidence,  not  only  to  guard 
our  shores  against  the  possibility  of  invasion,  not  only  to 
seal  up  the  gigantic  battleships  of  the  enemy  in  the  in- 
glorious seclusion  of  his  own  ports,  whence  from  time  to 
time,  he  furtively  steals  forth  to  sow  the  seeds  of  mur- 
derous snares,  which  are  more  full  of  menace  to  neutral 
ships  than  to  the  British  fleet.  Our  navy  does  all  this, 
and  while  it  is  thirsting,  I  do  not  doubt,  for  that  trial 
of  strength  in  a  fair  and  open  fight,  which  is  so  far  pru- 
dently denied  it,  it  does  a  great  deal  more.  It  has  hunted 
the  German  mercantile  marine  from  the  high  seas.  It 
has  kept  open  our  own  sources  of  food  supply  and  has 
largely  curtailed  those  of  the  enemy,  and  when  the  few 
German  cruisers  which  still  infest  the  more  distant  ocean 
routes  have  been  disposed  of,  as  they  will  be  disposed  of 
very  soon,  [cheers]  it  will  achieve  for  British  and  neutral 
commerce  passing  backward  and  forward,  from  and  to 
every  part  of  our  empire,  a  security  as  complete  as  it  has 
ever  enjoyed  in  the  days  of  unbroken  peace.  Let  us  honor 
the  memory  of  the  gallant  seamen  who,  in  the  pursuit  of 
one  or  another  of  these  varied  and  responsible  duties,  have 
already  laid  down  their  lives  for  their  country. 

In  regard  to  the  army  there  is  a  call  for  a  new,  a  con-  ■ 
tinuous,  a  determined,  and  a  united  effort.  For,  as  the 
war  goes  on,  we  shall  have  not  merely  to  replace  the 
wastage  caused  by  casualties,  not  merely  to  maintain  our 
military  power  at  its  original  level,  but  we  must,  if  we 
are  to  play  a  worthy  part,  enlarge  its  scale,  increase  its 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  235 

numbers  and  multiply  many  times  its  effectiveness  as  a 
fighting  instrument.  The  object  of  the  appeal  which  I 
have  made  to  you,  my  Lord  Mayor,  and  to  the  other  chief 
magistrates  of  our  capital  cities  is  to  impress  upon  the 
people  of  the  United  Kingdom  the  imperious  urgency 
of  this  supreme  duty.  Our  self-governing  dominions 
throughout  the  empire,  without  any  solicitation  on  our 
part,  have  demonstrated  with  a  spontaneousness  and  a 
unanimity  unparalleled  in  history  their  determination  to 
affirm  their  brotherhood  with  us  and  to  make  our  cause 
their  own.  From  Canada,  from  Australia,  from  New 
Zealand,  from  South  Africa,  and  from  Newfoundland, 
the  children  of  the  empire  5  assert,  not  as  an  obligation, 
but  as  a  privilege,  their  right  and  their  willingness  to  con- 
tribute money  and  material,  and  what  is  better  than  all, 
the  strength  and  sinews,  the  fortunes,  and  the  lives  of 
their  best  manhood.  [Cheers.]  India,  too,  with  no  less 
alacrity,  has  claimed  her  share  in  the  common  task.  Every 
class  and  creed,  British  and  natives,  Princes  and  people, 
Hindus  and  Mohammedans,  vie  with  one  another  in  noble 
and  emulous  rivalry.  Two  divisions  of  our  magnificent 
Indian  Army  are  already  on  their  way.  [Cheers.]  We 
welcome  with  appreciation  and  affection  their  proffered 
aid.  In  an  empire  which  knows  no  distinction  of  race 
or  cause  we  all  alike  as  subjects  of  the  King-Emperor 
are  joint  and  equal  custodians  of  our  common  interests 
and  fortunes.  We  are  here  to  hail  with  profound  and 
heartfelt  gratitude  their  association,  side  by  side  and 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  with  our  home  and  dominion  troops, 
under  the  flag  which  is  the  symbol  to  all  of  a  unity  that 
a  world  in  arms  cannot  dissever  or  dissolve.  With  these 
inspiring  appeals  and  examples  from  our  fellow-subjects 
all  over  the  world,  what  are  we  doing  and  what  ought  we 
to  do  here  at  home? 

Mobilization  was  ordered  6  on  the  4th  of  August ;  imme- 


236  H.  H.  ASQUITH 

diately  afterward  Lord  Kitchener  Issued  his  call  for  ioo,- 
ooo  recruits  for  the  regular  army,  which  has  been  followed 
by  a  second  call  for  another  100,000.  The  response  up 
to  to-day  gives  us  between  250,000  and  300,000.  I  am 
glad  to  say  that  London  has  done  its  share.  The  total 
number  of  Londoners  accepted  is  not  less  than  42,000. 
[Cheers.]  I  need  hardly  say  that  that  appeal  involves  no 
disparagement  or  discouragement  of  the  territorial  force. 
The  number  of  units  in  that  force  who  have  volunteered 
for  foreign  service  is  most  satisfactory  and  grows  every 
day.  We  look  to  them  with  confidence  to  increase  their 
numbers,  to  perfect  their  organization  and  training,  and 
to  play  efficiently  the  part  which  has  always  been  assigned 
to  them,  both  offensive  and  defensive,  in  the  military 
system  of  the  empire.  But  to  go  back  to  the  expansion  of 
the  regular  army.  We  want  more  men — men  of  the  best 
fighting  quality,  and  if  for  a  moment  the  number  who 
offer  themselves  and  are  accepted  should  prove  to  be  in 
excess  of  those  who  can  at  once  be  adequately  trained  and 
equipped,  do  not  let  them  doubt  that  prompt  provision 
will  be  made  for  the  incorporation  of  all  willing  and  able 
men  in  the  righting  forces  of  the  kingdom.  We  want, 
first  of  all,  men,  and  we  shall  endeavor  to  secure  them. 
Men  desiring  to  serve  together  shall,  wherever  possible, 
be  allotted  to  the  same  regiment  or  corps.  The  raising  of 
battalions  by  counties  or  municipalities  with  this  object 
will  be  in  every  way  encouraged.  But  we  want  not  less 
urgently  a  larger  supply  of  ex-non-commissioned  officers, 
and  the  pick  of  the  men  with  whom  in  the  past  days  they 
served,  men,  therefore,  whom  in  most  cases  we  shall  be 
asking  to  give  up  regular  employment  and  to  return  to 
the  work  of  the  State,  which  they  alone  are  competent  to 
do.  The  appeal  we  make  is  addressed  quite  as  much 
to  their  employers  as  to  the  men  themselves.  The  men 
ought  to  be  absolutely  assured  of  reinstatement 7  in  their 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  237 

business  at  the  end  of  the  war.  Finally,  there  are  num- 
bers of  commissioned  officers  now  in  retirement  who  are 
much  experienced  in  the  handling  of  troops  and  have 
served  their  country  in  the  past.  Let  them  come  forward, 
too,  and  show  their  willingness,  if  need  be,  to  train  bodies 
of  men  for  whom  at  the  moment  no  cadre  or  unit  can  be 
found. 

I  have  little  more  to  say.     Of  the  actual  progress  of 
the  war  I  will  not  say  anything,  except  that  in  my  judg- 
ment in  whatever  direction  we  look   there   is  abundant 
ground  for  pride  and  for  confidence.     I  say  nothing  more, 
because  I  think  we  should  all  bear  in  mind  that  we  are  at 
present  watching  the  fluctuations  of  fortune  only  in  the 
early  stages  of  what  is  going  to  be  a  protracted  struggle. 
We  must  learn  to  take  long  views,  and  to  cultivate,  above 
all,    other   faculties — those    of   patience,    endurance,    and 
steadfastness.     Meanwhile,  let  us  go,  each  of  us,  to  his  or 
her  appropriate  place  in  the  great  common  task.     Never 
had  a  people  more  or  richer  sources  of  encouragement  and 
inspiration.     Let  us  realize,  first  of  all,  that  we  are  fight- 
ing as  a  united  empire,  in  a  cause  worthy  of  the  highest 
traditions  of  our  race.     Let  us  keep  in  mind  the  patient 
and  indomitable  seamen,  who  never  relax  for  a  moment, 
night  or  day,  their  stern  vigil  of  the  lonely  sea.     Let  us 
keep  in  mind  our  gallant  troops,  who  to-day,  after  a  fort- 
night's continuous  fighting  under  conditions  which  would 
try  the  metal  of  the  best  army  that  ever  took  the  field, 
maintain  not  only  an  undefeated  but  an  unbroken  front. 
[Cheers.]     Finally,  let  us  recall  the  memories  of  the  great 
men  and  the  great  deeds  of  the  past,  commemorated,  some 
of  them,  in  the  monuments  which  we  see  around  us  on 
these    walls,    not    forgetting    the    dying    message    of    the 
younger  Pitt,  his  last  public  utterance,  made  at  the  table 
of  one  of  your  predecessors,  my  Lord  Mayor,  in  this  very 
hall:  "England  has  saved  herself  by  her  exertions,  and, 


238  H.  H.  ASQUITH 

will,  as  I  trust,  save  Europe  by  her  example."  The  Eng- 
land of  those  days  gave  a  noble  answer  to  his  appeal,  and 
did  not  sheath  the  sword  until,  after  nearly  twenty  years 
of  fighting,  the  freedom  of  Europe  was  secured.  Let  us 
go  and  do  likewise.     [Prolonged  cheers.] 

What  influence  had  Asquith's  The  Call  to  Arms  on  the  growth 
of  American  political  ideals? 

From  what  points  of  view  was  the  Great  War  an  attack  on 
democracy? 

Point  out  practices  in  the  government  of  Germany  in  1914 
that  were  repudiated  by  the  English  previous  even  to  American 
independence. 

Had  it  been  customary  in  England  for  the  prime  minister  to 
appeal  directly  to  the  people? 

What  purpose  was  served  by  Asquith's  reference  in  the  first 
paragraph  of  his  speech  to  the  peace  treaty  with  America? 

Compare  Asquith's  statement  of  Germany's  aims  with  the 
accounts  given  by  Lloyd-George  and  President  Wilson. 

Comment  briefly  on  Britain's  attempts  to  avoid  the  war. 

What,  according  to  Asquith,  was  the  predominating  motive 
that  led  England  to  engage  in  the  war? 

Contrast  the  style  of  Asquith's  speech  with  that  of  Patrick 
Henry's.  Does  the  difference  indicate  corresponding  degrees 
of  sincerity  and  determination. 

If  you  were  to  judge  by  the  applause  recorded  in  this  speech, 
what  motives  or  emotions  chiefly  animated  the  audience? 

What  was  the  effect  of  the  war  on  the  solidarity  of  the 
British  Empire? 

How  does  this  speech  point  to  a  democracy  broader  than  any 
that  had  yet  existed? 


PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  MESSAGE  TO 
CONGRESS 

April  2,   1917 

When  the  Germans  invaded  Belgium,  Americans  were 
appalled  by  the  ruthless  violation  of  treaties  and  of 
the  principles  of  humanity  and  international  law.  The 
suddenness  of  the.  attack  and  the  effects  of  unsuspected 
German  propaganda,  however,  clouded  the  issues  and 
made  it  seem  uncertain  what  course  of  action  ought 
to  be  followed.  It  seemed  best  to  remain  neutral.  Ac- 
cordingly early  in  August,  1914,  President  Wilson  ap- 
pealed to  the  American  people  in  these  words,  "  Every 
man  who  really  loves  America  will  act  and  speak  in 
the  true  spirit  of  neutrality,  which  is  the  spirit  of 
impartiality  and  fairness  and  friendliness  to  all  con- 
cerned.,,  It  is  true  that  at  this  time  there  were  Ameri- 
cans who  fully  appreciated  the  sublime  heroism  with 
which  Belgium  was  holding  back  the  foes  of  civiliza- 
tion, but  the  nation  as  a  whole  was  not  then  ready  for 
war. 

For  years  America  had  devoted  herself  to  thoughts 
of  peace.  The  military  establishment  of  Germany  had 
been  looked  upon  with  amusement,  for  it  was  a  com- 
mon American  view  that  the  last  war  in  the  history 
of  the  world  had  been  fought.  Very  little  was  known 
about  European  politics  and  false  statements  made  by 
German  agents  were  easily  believed.  One-third  of  the 
population  of  the  United  States  was  foreign  born  and 
naturally  as  regards  European  affairs  divided  in  their 
sympathies.    In  addition  to  the  hundreds  of  thousands 

239 


24o  MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS 

of  German-Americans  who  were  hostile  to  the  Allies, 
there  were  numerous  other  persons  who  for  one  reason 
or  another  were  unfriendly  to  England  or  France  or 
Russia.  Even  some  of  those  citizens  who  thought  it 
our  moral  and  political  duty  to  take  the  side  of  Bel- 
gium advised  in  1914  that  America  continue  for  a 
longer  period  its  policy  of  neutrality  since  the  Ameri- 
can army  was  so  poorly  equipped  and  was  so  pitifully 
small. 

The  situation,  however,  gradually  changed.  When 
through  diplomatic  means  Germany  had  failed  to  pre- 
vent American  firms  from  selling '  munitions  to  her 
enemies,  she  endeavored  through  paid  agents  and  spies 
to  initiate  a  campaign  of  violence  in  the  United  States 
by  inciting  strikes,  encouraging  sabotage,  and  dynamit- 
ing buildings.  Although  such  actions  on  Germany's 
part  naturally  cost  her  many  supporters,  the  feeling 
against  her  did  not  become  intensely  bitter  until  Febru- 
ary, 191 5,  when  in  utter  lack  of  regard  for  interna- 
tional law,  Germany  announced  that  she  was  about  to 
use  submarines  to  destroy,  instead  of  capture,  enemy 
merchant  vessels  on  sight  and  to  prevent  neutrals  from 
trading  with  England  and  France. 

Even  this  contempt  for  American  rights,  neverthe- 
less, did  not  stir  Americans  so  deeply  as  the  growing 
conviction  that  England  and  France  were  fighting  a 
battle  for  civilization.  The  cockneys  of  London, 
many  of  them  miserable  little  men,  had  left  their  cabs 
and  high  stools  in  the  offices,  had  sent  their  poorly 
nourished  wives  and  children  to  the  munition  factories 
and  the  farms,  and  had  gone  to  Ypres  and  the  Somme 
and  there  had  laid  down  their  lives  by  thousands  in 
support  of  the  principles  from  which  had  grown  the 
sweetness  and  light  of  American  life.  At  Verdun  the 
German  hordes  determined  that  France  should  be  bled 


MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS  241 

white  and  Prussians  would  hew  a  way  to  the  west. 
With  poison  gas  and  bayonet,  with  shell  and  machine- 
gun,  they  cut  down  division  after  division  of  French 
soldiers.  The  poilus  blocked  the  roads  with  their 
bodies  and  the  Germans  did  not  pass.  As  the  months 
went  by  it  became  clearer  to  most  Americans  that 
England  and  France  were  fighting  our  fight  while  we 
stood  idly  by. 

Meanwhile  submarine  activity  was  becoming  more 
serious.  After  numerous  vessels  had  been  torpedoed 
with  the  loss  of  some  American  lives,  the  great  liner 
Lusitania,  carrying  1,918  men,  women,  and  children, 
was  sunk,  May  7,  1915.  Among  the  1,154  passengers 
drowned  were  114  Americans.  So  great  was  the  hor- 
ror and  resentment  created  throughout  the  country  by 
this  act  that  probably  a  majority  of  United  States 
citizens  believed  that  the  time  had  come  when  America 
should  enter  the  war  to  help  the  Allies.  President 
Wilson,  however,  still  cherished  the  hope  that  if 
America  remained  neutral  the  United  States  might  be 
the  means  of  reconciling  the  contending  powers  and 
thereby  saving  endless  suffering  and  millions  of  lives. 
The  President's  forbearance  and  patience  were  sorely 
tried  when  soon  after  the  destruction  of  the  Lusitania 
other  ships  were  sunk  without  any  effort  to  save  pas- 
sengers. His  spirit  can  be  compared  only  to  that  of 
Lincoln  in  the  Civil  War  when  resisting  alike  the  taunts 
and  slurs  of  radical  abolitionists  and  the  threats  of 
Southern  sympathizers,  he  waited  with  infinite  patience 
until  the  time  was  fit  before  he  issued  his  proclamation 
that  the  slaves  were  free. 

On  January  31,  19 17,  the  German  government  an- 
nounced that  the  next  day  it  would  begin  unrestricted 
submarine  warfare  of  a  far  more  ruthless  character 
and  would  sink  enemy  and  neutral  ships  alike  if  found 


242  WOODROW  WILSON 

in  the  proscribed  zones.  On  February  3,  1917,  the 
German  ambassador  at  Washington  was  dismissed. 
On  February  28,  the  Federal  Secret  Service  made  pub- 
lic the  Zimmermann  note  in  which  Germany  proposed 
to  Mexico  that  she  and  Japan  form  a  military  alliance 
for  the  purpose  of  gaining  territory  from  the  United 
States.  It  was  no  longer  possible  for  any  American 
statesman,  no  matter  how  peace-loving,  to  defend  these 
acts.  At  last  the  country  was  practically  unanimous 
for  armed  resistance.  In  the  world's  history  no  na- 
tion able  to  protect  itself  had  ever  been  more  reluctant 
than  the  United  States  to  relinquish  a  policy  of  peace 
and  adopt  a  policy  of  war. 

Even  under  these  circumstances  German  spies  and 
sympathizers  made  a  last  effort  to  prevent  action  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States.  As  Congress  assem- 
bled in  extraordinary  session  at  the  call  of  the  Presi- 
dent, an  attempt  was  made  by  German  propagandists 
to  create  the  impression  that  many  citizens  were  still 
opposed  to  America's  taking  the  part  of  the  Allies. 
On  April  2,  1917,  however,  in  the  presence  of  both 
houses  of  Congress  assembled  in  joint  session,  the 
President  with  calmness  and  dignity  delivered  what  is 
probably  the  most  momentous  Message  ever  spoken  by 
an  American  executive. 


MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS 

April   2,    1917 

Woodrow  Wilson 

Gentlemen  of  the  Congress:  I  have  called  the  Con- 
gress into  extraordinary  session  1  because  there  are  serious, 
very  serious,  choices  of  policy  to  be  made,  and  made  imme- 


MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS  243 

diately,  which  it  was  neither  right  nor  constitutionally 
permissible 2  that  I  should  assume  the  responsibility  of 
making. 

On  the  third  of  February  last  I  officially  laid  before 
you  the  extraordinary  announcement  of  the  Imperial  Ger- 
man Government  that  on  and  after  the  first  day  of  Febru- 
ary it  was  its  purpose  to  put  aside  all  restraints  of  law  or 
of  humanity  and  use  its  submarines  to  sink  every  vessel 
that  sought  to  approach  either  the  ports  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  or  the  western  coast  of  Europe  or  any  of 
the  ports  controlled  by  the  enemies  of  Germany  within  the 
Mediterranean.  That  had  seemed  to  be  the  object  of  the 
German  submarine  warfare  earlier  in  the  war,  but  since 
April  of  last  year  the  Imperial  Government  had  somewhat 
restrained  the  commanders  of  its  undersea  craft  in  con- 
formity with  its  promise  then  given  to  us  3  that  passenger 
boats  should  not  be  sunk  and  that  due  warning  would  be 
given  to  all  other  vessels  which  its  submarines  might  seek 
to  destroy,  when  no  resistance  was  offered  or  escape  at- 
tempted, and  care  taken  that  their  crews  were  given  at 
least  a  fair  chance  to  save  their  lives  in  their  open  boats. 
The  precautions  taken  were  meagre  and  haphazard 
enough,  as  was  proved  in  distressing  instance  after  in- 
stance in  the  progress  of  the  cruel  and  unmanly  business, 
but  a  certain  degree  of  restraint  was  observed.  The  new 
policy  has  swept  every  restriction  aside.  Vessels  of  every 
kind,  whatever  their  flag,  their  character,  their  cargo,  their 
destination,  their  errand,  have  been  ruthlessly  sent  to  the 
bottom  without  warning  and  without  thought  of  help  or 
mercy  for  those  on  board,  the  vessels  of  friendly  neutrals 
along  with  those  of  belligerents.  Even  hospital  ships  and 
ships  carrying  relief  to  the  sorely  bereaved  and  stricken 
people  of  Belgium,  though  the  latter  were  provided  with 
safe  conduct  through  the  proscribed  areas  by  the  German 
Government  itself  and  were  distinguished  by  unmistakable 


I 


244  WOODROW  WILSON 

marks  of  identity,  have  been  sunk  *  with  the  same  reckless 
lack  of  compassion  or  of  principle. 

I  was  for  a  little  while  unable  to  believe  that  such  things 
would  in  fact  be  done  by  any  government  that  had  hitherto 
subscribed  to  the  humane  practices  of  civilized  nations. 
International  law  had  its  origin  in  the  attempt  to  set  up 
some  law  which  would  be  respected  and  observed  upon  the 
seas,  where  no  nation  had  right  of  dominion  and  where 
lay  the  free  highways  of  the  world.  By  painful  stage  after 
stage  has  that  law  been  built  up,  with  meager  enough  re- 
sults, indeed,  after  all  was  accomplished  that  could  be 
accomplished,  but  always  with  a  clear  view,  at  least,  of 
what  the  heart  and  conscience  of  mankind  demanded. 
This  minimum  of  right  the  German  Government  has 
swept  aside  under  the  plea  of  retaliation  and  necessity  and 
because  it  had  no  weapons  which  it  could  use  at  sea  except 
these  which  it  is  impossible  to  employ  as  it  is  employing 
them  without  throwing  to  the  winds  all  scruples  of  hu- 
manity or  of  respect  for  the  understandings  that  were 
supposed  to  underlie  the  intercourse  of  the  world.  I  am 
not  now  thinking  of  the  loss  of  property  involved,  immense 
and  serious  as  that  is,  but  only  of  the  wanton  and  whole- 
sale destruction  of  the  lives  of  non-combatants,  men, 
women,  and  children,  engaged  in  pursuits  which  have 
always,  even  in  the  darkest  periods  of  modern  history,  been 
deemed  innocent  and  legitimate.  Property  can  be  paid 
for;  the  lives  of  peaceful  and  innocent  people  can  not 
be.  The  present  German  submarine  warfare  against  com- 
merce is  a  warfare  against  mankind. 

It  is  a  war  against  all  nations.  American  ships  have 
been  sunk,  American  lives  taken,  in  ways  which  it  has 
stirred  us  very  deeply  to  learn  of,  but  the  ships  and  peo- 
ple of  other  neutral  and  friendly  nations  have  been  sunk 
and  overwhelmed  in  the  waters  in  the  same  way.  There 
has  been  no  discrimination.    The  challenge  is  to  all  man- 


MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS  245 

kind.  Each  nation  must  decide  for  itself  how  it  will  meet 
it.  The  choice  we  make  for  ourselves  must  be  made  with 
a  moderation  of  counsel  and  a  temperateness  of  judgment 
befitting  our  character  and  our  motives  as  a  nation.  We 
must  put  excited  feeling  away.  Our  motive  will  not  be 
revenge  or  the  victorious  assertion  of  the  physical  might 
of  the  nation,  but  only  the  vindication  of  right,  of  human 
right,  of  which  we  are  only  a  single  champion. 

When  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  twenty-sixth  of 
February  last  I  thought  that  it  would  suffice  to  assert 
our  neutral  rights  with  arms,  our  right  to  use  the  seas 
against  unlawful  interference,  our  right  to  keep  our  peo- 
ple safe  against  unlawful  violence.     But  armed  neutrality, 
it  now  appears,  is  impracticable.     Because  submarines  are 
in  effect  outlaws  when  used  as  the  German  submarines 
have  been  used  against  merchant  shipping,  it  is  impossible 
to  defend  ships  against  their  attacks  as  the  law  of  nations 
has  assumed  that  merchantmen  would  defend  themselves 
against  privateers  or  cruisers,   visible  craft  giving  chase 
upon  the  open  sea.    It  is  common  prudence  in  such  circum- 
stances, grim  necessity  indeed,  to  endeavor  to  destroy  them 
before  they  have  shown  their  own  intention.     They  must 
be  dealt  with  upon  sight,  if  dealt  with  at  all.     The  Ger- 
man Government  denies  the  right  of  neutrals  to  use  arms 
at  all  within  the  areas  of  the  sea  which  it  has  proscribed, 
even  in  the  defense  of  rights  which  no  modern  publicist 
has  ever  before  questioned  their  right  to   defend.     The 
intimation  is  conveyed  that  the  armed  guards  which  we 
have  placed  on  our  merchant  ships  will  be  treated  as  be- 
yond  the  pale  of  law  and  subject  to   be  dealt  with   as 
pirates  would  be.    Armed  neutrality  is  ineffectual  enough 
at  best;  in  such  circumstances  and   in   the   face  of  such 
pretentions  it  is  worse  than  ineffectual :  it  is  likely  only  to 
produce  what  it  was  meant  to  prevent;  it  is  practically 
certain  to  draw  us  into  the  war  without  either  the  rights 


246  WOODROW  WILSON 

or  the  effectiveness  of  belligerents.  There  is  one  choice 
we  cannot  make,  we  are  incapable  of  making :  we  will  not 
choose  the  path  of  submission  and  suffer  the  most  sacred 
rights  of  our  nation  and  our  people  to  be  ignored  or  vio- 
lated. The  wrongs  against  which  we  now  array  ourselves 
are  no  common  wrongs ;  they  cut  to  the  very  roots  of  hu- 
man   life. 

With  a  profound  sense  of  the  solemn  and  even  tragical 
character  of  the  step  I  am  taking  and  of  the  grave  respon- 
sibilities which  it  involves,  but  in  unhesitating  obedience 
to  what  I  deem  my  constitutional  duty,  I  advise  that  the 
Congress  declare  the  recent  course  of  the  Imperial  Ger- 
man Government  to  be  in  fact  nothing  less  than  war 
against  the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States; 
that  it  formally  accept  the  status  of  belligerent  which  has 
thus  been  thrust  upon  it ;  and  that  it  take  immediate  steps 
not  only  to  put  the  country  in  a  more  thorough  state  of 
defense  but  also  to  exert  all  its  power  and  employ  all  its 
resources  to  bring  the  government  of  the  German  Empire 
to  terms  and  end  the  war. 

What  this  will  involve  is  clear.  It  will  involve  the 
utmost  practicable  cooperation  in  counsel  and  action  with 
the  governments  now  at  war  with  Germany,  and,  as  in- 
cident to  that,  the  extension  to  those  Governments  of 
the  most  liberal  financial  credits,  in  order  that  our  re- 
sources may,  so  far  as  possible,  be  added  to  theirs.  It 
will  involve  the  organization  and  mobilization  of  all  the 
material  resources  of  the  country  to  supply  the  materials 
of  war  and  serve  the  incidental  needs  of  the  nation  in  the 
most  abundant,  and  yet  the  most  economical  and  efficient, 
way  possible. 

It  will  involve  the  immediate  full  equipment  of  the 
navy  in  all  respects,  but  particularly  in  supplying  it 
with  the  best  means  of  dealing  with  the  enemy's  sub- 
marines.    It  will  involve  the  immediate  addition  to  the 


MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS  247 

armed  forces  of  the  United  States,  already  provided  for 
by  law  in  case  of  war,  of  at  least  500,000  men,  who 
should,  in  my  opinion,  be  chosen  upon  the  principle  of 
universal  liability  to  service,  and  also  the  authorization 
of  subsequent  additional  increments  of  equal  force  so  soon 
as  they  may  be  needed  and  can  be  handled  in  training. 

It  will  involve  also,  of  course,  the  granting  of  adequate 
credits  to  the  government,  sustained,  I  hope,  so  far  as  they 
can  equitably  be  sustained  by  the  present  generation,  by 
well-conceived  taxation.  I  say  sustained  so  far  as  may  be 
equitable  by  taxation  because  it  seems  to  me  that  it  would 
be  most  unwise  to  base  the  credits  which  will  now  be 
necessary  entirely  on  borrowed  money.  It  is  our  duty,  I 
must  respectfully  urge,  to  protect  our  people  so  far  as 
we  may  against  the  very  serious  hardships  and  evils  which 
would  be  likely  to  arise  out  of  the  inflation  which  would 
be  produced  by  vast  loans.  In  carrying  out  the  measures 
by  which  these  things  are  to  be  accomplished  we  should 
keep  constantly  in  mind  the  wisdom  of  interfering  as 
little  as  possible  in  our  own  preparation  and  in  the  equip- 
ment of  our  own  military  forces  with  the  duty — for  it 
will  be  a  very  practical  duty — of  supplying  the  nations 
already  at  war  with  Germany  with  the  materials  which 
they  can  obtain  only  from  us  or  by  our  assistance.  They 
are  in  the  field  and  we  should  help  them  in  every  way  to 
be  effective  there. 

I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting,  through  the  sev- 
eral executive  departments  of  the  government  for  the 
consideration  of  your  committees,  measures  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  several  objects  I  have  mentioned. 
I  hope  that  it  will  be  your  pleasure  to  deal  with  them  as 
having  been  framed  after  very  careful  thought  by  the 
branch  of  the  government  upon  which  the  responsibility 
of  conducting  the  war  and  safeguarding  the  nation  will 
most   directly   fall. 


248  WOODROW  WILSON 

While  we  do  these  things,  these  deeply  momentous 
things,  let  us  be  very  clear,  and  make  very  clear  to  all  the 
world  what  our  motives  and  our  objects  are.5  My  own 
thought  has  not  been  driven  from  its  habitual  and  normal 
course  by  the  unhappy  events  of  the  last  two  months,  and 
I  do  not  believe  that  the  thought  of  the  nation  has  been 
altered  or  clouded  by  them.  I  have  exactly  the  same  thing 
in  mind  now  that  I  had  in  mind  when  I  addressed  the 
Senate  on  the  22d  of  January  last;  the  same  that  I  had  in 
mind  when  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  3d  of  Febru- 
ary and  on  the  26th  of  February.  Our  object  now,  as 
then,  is  to  vindicate  the  principles  of  peace  and  justice  in 
the  life  of  the  world  as  against  selfish  and  autocratic 
power  and  to  set  up  amongst  the  really  free  and  self- 
governed  peoples  of  the  world  such  a  concert  of  purpose 
and  of  action  as  will  henceforth  ensure  the  observance  of 
those  principles.  Neutrality  is  no  longer  feasible  or  desir- 
able where  the  peace  of  the  world  is  involved  and  the 
freedom  of  its  peoples,  and  the  menace  to  that  peace  and 
freedom  lies  in  the  existence  of  autocratic  governments 
backed  by  organized  force  which  is  controlled  wholly  by 
their  will,  not  by  the  will  of  their  people.  We  have  seen 
the  last  of  neutrality  in  such  circumstances.  We  are  at  the 
beginning  of  an  age  in  which  it  will  be  insisted  that  the 
same  standards  of  conduct  and  of  responsibility  for  wrong 
done  shall  be  observed  among  nations  and  their  govern- 
ments that  are  observed  among  the  individual  citizens  of 
civilized  states. 

We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  German  people.  We 
have  no  feeling  towards  them  but  one  of  sympathy  and 
friendship.  It  was  not  upon  their  impulse  that  their  gov- 
ernment acted  in  entering  this  war.  It  was  not  with  their 
previous  knowledge  or  approval.  It  was  a  war  deter- 
mined upon  as  wars  used  to  be  determined  upon  in  the 
old,  unhappy  days  6  when  peoples  were  nowhere  consulted 


MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS  249 

by  their  rulers  and  wars  were  provoked  and  waged  in  the 
interest  of  dynasties  or  of  little  groups  of  ambitious  men 
who  were  accustomed  to  use  their  fellow  men  as  pawns 
and  tools.  Self-governed  nations  do  not  fill  their  neigh- 
bor states  with  spies  or  set  the  course  of  intrigue  to  bring 
about  some  critical  posture  of  affairs  which  will  give  them 
an  opportunity  to  strike  and  make  conquest.  Such  designs 
can  be  successfully  worked  out  only  under  cover  and 
where  no  one  has  the  right  to  ask  questions.  Cunningly 
contrived  plans  of  deception  or  aggression,  carried,  it  may 
be,  from  generation  to  generation,  can  be  worked  out  and 
kept  from  the  light  only  within  the  privacy  of  courts  or 
behind  the  carefully  guarded  confidences  of  a  narrow  and 
privileged  class.  They  are  happily  impossible  where  public 
opinion  commands  and  insists  upon  full  information  con- 
cerning all  the  nation's  affairs. 

A  steadfast  concert  for  peace  can  never  be  maintained 
except  by  a  partnership  of  democratic  nations.  No  auto- 
cratic government  could  be  trusted  to  keep  faith  within  it 
or  observe  its  covenants.  It  must  be  a  league  of  honour, 
a  partnership  of  opinion.  Intrigue  would  eat  its  vitals 
away;  the  plottings  of  inner  circles  who  could  plan  what 
they  would  and  render  account  to  no  one  would  be  a  cor- 
ruption seated  at  its  very  heart.  Only  free  peoples  can 
hold  their  purpose  and  their  honour  steady  to  a  common 
end  and  prefer  the  interests  of  mankind  to  any  narrow 
interest  of  their  own. 

One  of  the  things  that  has  served  to  convince  us  that 
the  Prussian  autocracy  was  not  and  could  never  be  our 
friend  is  that  from  the  very  outset  of  the  present  war 
it  has  filled  our  unsuspecting  communities  and  even  our 
offices  of  government  with  spies  and  set  criminal  intrigues 
everywhere  afoot  against  our  national  unity  of  counsel, 
our  peace  within  and  without,  our  industries  and  our 
commerce.     Indeed,  it  is  now  evident  that  its  spies  were 


2  5o  WOODROW  WILSON 

here  even  before  the  war  began,  and  it  is  unhappily  not 
a  matter  of  conjecture  but  a  fact  proved  in  our  courts 
of  justice  that  the  intrigues  which  have  more  than  once 
come  perilously  near  to  disturbing  the  peace  and  dis- 
locating the  industries  of  the  country  have  been  carried 
on  at  the  instigation,  with  the  support,  and  even  under 
the  personal  direction  of  official  agents  of  the  Imperial 
Government  accredited  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States.  Even  in  checking  these  things  and  trying  to 
extirpate  them  we  have  sought  to  put  the  most  generous 
interpretation  possible  upon  them  because  we  knew  that 
their  source  lay,  not  in  any  hostile  feeling  or  purpose  of 
the  German  people  toward  us  (who  were,  no  doubt,  as 
ignorant  of  them  as  we  ourselves  were)  but  only  in  the 
selfish  designs  of  a  government  that  did  what  it  pleased 
and  told  its  people  nothing.  But  they  have  played  their 
part  in  serving  to  convince  us  at  last  that  that  government 
entertains  no  real  friendship  for  us  and  means  to  act 
against  our  peace  and  security  at  its  convenience.  That 
it  means  to  stir  up  enemies  against  us  at  our  very  doors  the 
intercepted  note 7  to  the  German  Minister  at  Mexico 
City  is  eloquent  evidence. 

We  are  accepting  this  challenge  of  hostile  purpose  be- 
cause we  know  that  in  such  a  government,  following 
such  methods,  we  can  never  have  a  friend ;  and  that  in  the 
presence  of  its  organized  power,  always  lying  in  wait  to 
accomplish  we  know  not  what  purpose,  there  can  be  no 
assured  security  for  the  democratic  governments  of  the 
world.  We  are  now  about  to  accept  gauge  of  battle  with 
this  natural  foe  of  liberty,  and  shall,  if  necessary,  spend 
the  whole  force  of  the  nation  to  check  and  nullify  its  pre- 
tensions and  its  power.  We  are  glad,  now  that  we  see  the 
facts  with  no  veil  of  false  pretense  about  them,  to  fight 
\thus  for  the  ultimate  peace  of  the  world  and  for  the  libera- 
tion of  its  peoples — the  German  people  included — for  the 


MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS  251 

rights  of  nations  great  and  small  and  the  privilege  of  men 
everywhere  to  choose  their  way  of  life  and  of  obedience. 
The  world  mustjj&jnade  safe^f or  democracy.  Its  peace 
must  be  planted  upon  trie  trusted  foundations  of  political 
liberty.  We  have  no  selfish  ends  to  serve.  We  desire 
no  conquest,  no  dominion.  We  seek  no  indemnities  for 
ourselves,  no  material  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  we 
shall  freely  make.  We  are  but  one  of  the  champions 
of  the  rights  of  mankind.  We  shall  be  satisfied  when 
those  rights  have  been  made  as  secure  as  the  faith  and  the 
freedom  of  the  nation  can  make  them. 

Just  because  we  fight  without  rancor  and  without  self- 
ish objects,  seeking  nothing  for  ourselves  but  what  we 
shall  wish  to  share  with  all  free  peoples,  we  shall,  I  feel 
confident,  conduct  our  operations  as  belligerents  without 
passion  and  ourselves  observe  with  proud  punctilio  the 
principles  of  right  and  of  fair  play  we  profess  to  be 
fighting  for. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  governments  allied  with  the 
Imperial  Government  of  Germany  because  they  have  not 
made  war  upon  us  or  challenged  us  to  defend  our  right 
and  our  honor.  The  Austro-Hungarian  Government  has, 
indeed,  avowed  its  unqualified  indorsement  and  acceptance 
of  the  reckless  and  lawless  submarine  warfare  adopted  now 
without  disguise  by  the  Imperial  German  Government, 
and  it  has  therefore  not  been  possible  for  this  government 
to  receive  Count  Tarnowski,  the  Ambassador  recently  ac- 
credited to  this  government  by  the  Imperial  and  Royal 
Government  of  Austria-Hungary;  but  that  government 
has  not  actually  engaged  in  warfare  against  citizens  of  the 
United  States  on  the  seas,  and  I  take  the  liberty,  for  the 
present  at  least,  of  postponing  a  discussion  of  our  relations 
with  the  authorities  at  Vienna.  We  enter  this  war  only 
where  we  are  clearly  forced  into  it  because  there  are  no 
Dther  means  of  defending  our  rights. 


other  rr 


252  WOODROW  WILSON 

It  will  be  all  the  easier  for  us  to  conduct  ourselves  as 
belligerents  in  a  high  spirit  of  right  and  fairness  because 
we  act  without  animus,  not  in  enmity  towards  a  people  or 
with  the  desire  to  bring  any  injury  or  disadvantage  upon 
them,  but  only  in  armed  opposition  to  an  irresponsible 
government  which  has  thrown  aside  all  considerations  of 
humanity  and  of  right  and  is  running  amuck.  We  are, 
let  me  say  again,  the  sincere  friends  of  the  German  people, 
and  shall  desire  nothing  so  much  as  the  early  reestablish- 
ment  of  intimate  relations  of  mutual  advantage  between 
us, — however  hard  it  may  be  for  them,  for  the  time  being, 
to  believe  that  this  is  spoken  from  our  hearts.  We  have 
borne  with  their  present  government  through  all  these 
bitter  months  because  of  that  friendship, — exercising  a 
patience  and  forbearance  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  impossible.  We  shall,  happily,  still  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  prove  that  friendship  in  our  daily  attitude  and 
actions  towards  the  millions  of  men  and  women  of  Ger- 
man birth  and  native  sympathy  who  live  amongst  us  and 
share  our  life,  and  we  shall  be  proud  to  prove  it  towards 
all  who  are  in  fact  loyal  to  their  neighbors  and  to  the 
government  in  the  hour  of  test.  They  are,  most  of  them, 
as  true  and  loyal  Americans  as  if  they  had  never  known 
any  other  fealty  or  allegiance.  They  will  be  prompt  to 
stand  with  us  in  rebuking  and  restraining  the  few  who 
may  be  of  a  different  mind  and  purpose.  If  there  should 
be  disloyalty,  it  will  be  dealt  with  with  a  firm  hand  of 
stern  repression ;  but,  if  it  lifts  its  head  at  all,  it  will  lift 
it  only  here  and  there  and  without  countenance  except 
from  a  lawless  and  malignant  few. 

""It  is  a  distressing  and  oppressive  duty,  Gentlemen  of 
the  Congress,  which  I  have  performed  in  thus  addressing 
you.  There  are,  it  may  be,  many  months  of  fiery  trial 
and  sacrifice  ahead  of  us.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  lead 
this  great  peaceful  people  into  war,  into  the  most  terrible 


MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS  253 

and  disastrous  of  all  wars,  civilization  itself  seeming  to 
be  in  the  balance.  But  the  right  is  more  precious  than 
peace,  and  we  shall  fight  for  trie  things  which  we  have 
always  carried  nearest  our  hearts, — for  democracy,  for  the 
right  of  those  who  submit  to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in 
their  own  governments,  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
small  nations,  for  a  universal  dominion  of  right  by  such  a 
concert  of  free  peoples  as  shall  bring  peace  and  safety  to 
all  nations  and  make  the  world  itself  at  last  free.  To 
such  a  task  we  can  dedicate  our  lives  and  our  fortunes, 
everything  that  we  are  and  everything  that  we  have,  with 
the  pride  of  those  who  knowT  that  the  day  has  come  when 
America  is  privileged  to  spend  her  blood  and  her  might 
for  the  principles  that  gave  her  birth  and  happiness  and 
the  peace  which  she  has  treasured.  God  helping  Her,  she 
can  do  no  other.8 

Who  in  America  has  the  power  to  declare  war? 

What  were  the  "  choices  of  policy "  before  Congress  at  the 
time  this  speech  was  delivered? 

Could  President  Wilson  have  made  a  distinction  between  the 
German  people  and  the  German  government  if  the  German 
government  had  been  truly  democratic? 

Premier  Asquith  in  The  Call  to  Arms  said  that  England  in 
entering  the  war  was  actuated  by  no  narrow  or  selfish  na- 
tionalism. Is  President  Wilson  equally  altruistic  in  outlining 
America's  course? 

The  United  States  first  guarded  its  own  liberty;  later  it 
attempted  to  protect  weak  American  republics;  finally  it  helped 
to  make  the  world  safe  for  democracy.  Was  this  expansion 
of  its  sphere  of  action  the  result  of  a  growing  moral  conscious- 
ness, or  was  it  due  to  other  influences? 

Did  President  Wilson  advocate  a  new  principle  in  inter- 
national law  when  he  maintained  that  "  the  same  standards  of 
conduct  and  responsibility  for  wrong  done  should  be  observed 
among  nations  and  their  governments  that  are  observed  among 
the  individual  citizens  of  civilized  states"? 


THE  MEANING  OF  AMERICA'S   ENTRANCE 
INTO  THE  WAR 

April  12,   1917 

The  news  that  the  American  Congress  had  declared 
war  against  Germany  was  received  with  joy  and  en- 
thusiasm throughout  France  and  England.  The  Lon- 
don papers  were  rilled  with  articles  of  appreciation  and 
with  accounts  of  the  material  and  moral  aid  that  was 
about  to  come  to  the  Allies.  It  was  the  general  opinion 
of  English  statesmen  that  the  entrance  of  America  into 
the  struggle  was  the  most  important  event  of  the  war. 
Ex-premier  Asquith  said  that  a  day  had  dawned  whose 
"  sun  shall  not  set  until  the  two  great  English-speaking 
democracies  can  rejoice  together,  as  fellow-workers 
and  fellow-combatants,  over  the  triumph  of  freedom 
and  of  right."  L&r^^*^ 

At  the  American  Luncheon  Club,"  on  April  12,  1917, 
a  great  company  of  distinguished  Americans  and 
Britons  gathered  to  celebrate  America's  entrance  into 
the  war.  It  was  said  that  no  unofficial  social  event 
within  a  generation  had  brought  together  more  men  of 
prominence  than  were  present  on  this  occasion.  After 
the  cloth  had  been  removed  and  toasts  to  President 
Wilson  and  King  George  had  been  drunk  with  much 
enthusiasm,  Ambassador  Page,  who  was  presiding, 
spoke  of  the  President's  recent  message  to  Congress. 
"  From  all  of  the  states,  from  the  states  of  the  great 
Mississippi  valley,  from  the  South  and  from  the  Pacific 
they  will  come — as  many  millions  as  you  need.     We 

254 


AMERICA'S  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  WAR    255 

come  in  answer  only  to  the  high  call  of  duty  and  not 
for  any  national  reward ;  not  for  territory,  not  for  in- 
demnity or  conquest;  not  for  anything  except  the 
high  duty  to  succor  democracy  when  it  is  desperately 
assailed." 

The  reply  made  by  Premier  Lloyd-George  to  the 
words  of  Ambassador  Page  is  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant historical  documents  brought  forth  by  the  great 
struggle  for  democracy.  It  is  known  as  Lloyd- 
George's  speech  on  The  Meaning  of  America's  En- 
trance into  the  War. 


THE   MEANING   OF  AMERICA'S    ENTRANCE 
INTO  THE  WAR 

David  Lloyd-George 

I  am  in  the  happy  position  of  being,  T  think,  the  first 
Prime  minister  of  the  Crown  who,  speaking  on  behalf 
of  the  people  of  this  country,  can  salute  the  American 
nation  as  comrades  in  arms.  I  am  glad;  I  am  proud.  I 
am  glad  not  merely  because  of  the  stupendous  resources 
which  this  great  nation  will  bring  to  the  succor  of  the 
alliance,  but  I  rejoice  as  a  democrat  that  the  advent  of 
the  United  States  into  this  war  gives  the  final  stamp  and 
seal  to  the  character  of  the  conflict  as  a  struggle  against 
military  autocracy  throughout  the  world. 

This  was  the  note  which  ran  through  the  great  deliver- 
ance of  President  Wilson.  It  was  echoed,  Sir,  in  your 
resounding  words  to-day.  The  United  States  of  America 
have  the  noble  tradition  never  broken,  of  having  never 
engaged  in  war  except  for  liberty.  And  this  is  the  great- 
est struggle  for  liberty  that  they  have  ever  embarked 
upon.      1  am  not  at  all  surprised,  when  one  recalls  the 


256  DAVID  LLOYD-GEORGE 

wars  of  the  past,  that  America  took  its  time  to  make  up 
its  mind  about  the  character  of  this  struggle.  In  Europe 
most  of  the  great  wars  of  the  past  were  waged 'for  dynastic 
aggrandizement  and  conquest.  No  wonder  when  this 
great  war  started  that  there  were  some  elements  of  sus- 
picion still  lurking  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  There  were  those  who  thought 
perhaps  that  Kings  were  at  their  old  tricks,  and  although 
they  saw  the  gallant  Republic  of  France  fighting,  they — 
some  of  them  perhaps — regarded  it  as  the  poor  victim  of 
a  conspiracy  of  monarchical  swashbucklers.1  The  fact 
that  the  United  States  of  America  has  made  up  its  mind, 
finally  makes  it  abundantly  clear  to  the  world  that  this 
is  no  struggle  of  that  character,  but  a  great  fight  for  hu- 
man liberty. 

They  naturally  did  not  know  at  first  what  we  had 
endured  in  Europe  for  years  from  this  military  caste  in 
Prussia.  It  never  has  reached  the  United  States  of 
America.  Prussia  was  not  a  democracy.  The  Kaiser 
promises  that  it  will  be  a  democracy  after  the  war.  I 
think  he  is  right.  But  Prussia  not  merely  was  not  a 
democracy.  Prussia  was  not  a  state;  Prussia  was  an 
army.  It  had  great  industries  that  had  been  highly  de- 
veloped ;  a  great  educational  system ;  it  had  its  univer- 
sities; it  had  developed  its  science. 

All  these  were  subordinate  to  the  one  great  predomi- 
nant purpose,  the  purpose  of  an  all-conquering  army 
which  was  to  intimidate  the  world.  The  army  was  the 
spear-point  of  Prussia;  the  rest  was  but  the  gilded  haft. 
That  was  what  we  had  to  deal  with  in  these  old  coun- 
tries. It  was  an  army  that  in  recent  times  had  waged 
three  wars,  all  of  conquest,2  and  the  unceasing  tramp 
of  its  legions  through  the  streets  of  Prussia,  on  the  parade 
grounds  of  Prussia,  had  gone  to  the  Prussian  head.  The 
Kaiser,  when  he  witnessed  it  on  a  grand  scale  at  his  re- 


AMERICA'S  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  WAR    257 

views,  got  drunk  with  the  sound  of  it.  He  delivered  the 
law  to  the  world  as  if  Potsdam  were  another  Sinai,  and 
he  was  uttering  the  law  from  the  thunder  clouds. 

But  make  no  mistake.  Europe  was  uneasy.  Europe 
was  half  intimidated.  Europe  was  anxious.  Europe  was 
apprehensive.  We  knew  the  whole  time  what  it  meant. 
What  we  did  not  know  was  the  moment  it  would  come. 

This  is  the  menace ;  this  is  the  apprehension  from  which 
Europe  had  suffered  for  over  fifty  years.  It  paralyzed 
the  beneficent  activity  of  all  states,  which  ought  to  be 
devoted  to  concentrating  on  the  well-being  of  their  peo- 
ples. They  had  to  think  about  this  menace,  which  was 
there  constantly  as  a  cloud  ready  to  burst  over  the  land. 
No  one  can  tell  except  Frenchmen  what  they  endured 
from  this  tyranny,  patiently,  gallantly,  with  dignity,  till 
the  hour  of  deliverance  came. 

I  have  been  asking  myself  the  question,  Why  did  Ger- 
many deliberately,  in  the  third  year  of  the  war,  provoke 
America  to  this  declaration  and  to  this  action — deliber- 
ately, resolutely?  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  reason 
was  that  there  were  certain  elements  in  American  life 
which  they  were  under  the  impression  would  make  it  im- 
possible for  the  United  States  to  declare  war.  That  I 
can  hardly  believe.  But  the  answer  has  been  afforded  by 
Marshal  von  Hindenburg  himself,  in  the  very  remarkable 
interview  which  appeared  in  the  press,  I  think,  only  this 
morning. 

He  depended  clearly  on  one  of  two  things.  First,  that 
the  submarine  campaign,  would  have  destroyed  interna- 
tional shipping  to  such  an  extent  that  England  would 
have  been  put  out  of  business  before  America  was  ready. 
According  to  his  computation,  America  can  not  be  ready  . 
for  twelve  months.  He  does  not  know  America.  In  the 
alternative,  that  when  America  is  ready,  at  the  end  of 
twelve  months,  with  her  army,  she  will  have  no  ships  to 


258  DAVID  LLOYD-GEORGE 

ti  an  port  that  army  to  the  field  of  battle.  In  von  Hin- 
denburg's  words,  "  America  carries  no  weight,"  I  suppose 
he  means  she  has  no  ships  to  carry  weight.  On  that,  un- 
doubtedly, they  are  reckoning. 

Well,  it  is  not  wise  always  to  assume  that  even  when 
the  German  General  Staff,  which  has  miscalculated  so 
often,  makes  a  calculation  it  has  no  grounds  for  it.  It 
therefore  behooves  the  whole  of  the  Allies,  Great  Britain 
and  America  in  particular,  to  see  that  the  reckoning  of 
von  Hindenburg  is  as  false  as  the  one  he  made  about  his 
famous  line,  which  we  have  broken  already. 

The  road  to  victory,  the  guarantee  of  victory,  the  abso- 
lute assurance  of  victory  is  to  be  found  in  one  word — 
ships;  and  a  second  word — ships;  and  a  third  word — 
ships.  And  with  that  quickness  of  apprehension  which 
characterizes  your  nation,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  see  that  they 
fully  realize  that,  and  to-day  I  observe  that  they  have 
already  made  arrangements  to  build  one  thousand  3,000- 
tonners  for  the  Atlantic.  I  think  that  the  German  mili- 
tary advisers  must  already  begin  to  realize  that  this  is 
another  of  the  tragic  miscalculations  which  are  going  to 
lead  them  to  disaster  and  to  ruin.  But  you  will  pardon 
me  for  emphasizing  that.  We  are  a  slow  people  in  these 
islands — slow  and  blundering — but  we  get  there.  You 
get  there  sooner,  and  that  is  why  I  am  glad  to  see  you  in. 

But  may  I  say  that  we  have  been  in  this  business  for 
three  years?  We  have,  as  we  generally  do,  tried  every 
blunder.  In  golfing  phraseology,  we  have  got  into  every 
bunker.  But  we  have  got  a  good  niblick.  We  are  right 
out  on  the  course.  But  may  I  respectfully  suggest  that  it 
is  worth  America's  while  to  study  our  blunders,  so  as  to 
begin  just  where  we  are  now  and  not  where  we  were 
three  years  ago?  That  is  an  advantage.  In  war,  time 
has  as  tragic  a  significance  as  it  has  in  sickness.  A  step 
which,  taken  to-day,  may  lead  to  assured  victory,  taken 


AMERICA'S  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  WAR    259 

to-morrow  may  barely  avert  disaster.  All  the  Allies  have 
discovered  that.  It  was  a  new  country  for  us  all.  It 
was  trackless,  mapless.  We  had  to  go  by  instinct.  But 
we  found  the  way  and  I  am  glad  that  you  are  sending 
your  great  naval  and  military  experts  here,  just  to  ex- 
change experiences  with  men  who  have  been  through  all 
the  dreary,  anxious  crises  of  the  last  three  years. 

America  has  helped  us  even  to  win  the  battle  of  Arras. 
She  has  been  making  guns,  making  ammunition,  giving 
us  machinery  to  prepare  both;  she  has  supplied  us  with 
steel,  and  she  has  got  all  that  organization  and  she  has 
got  that  wonderful  facility,  adaptability,  and  resourceful- 
ness of  the  great  people  who  inhabit  that  great  continent. 
Ah!  It  was  a  bad  day  for  military  autocracy  in  Prussia 
when  it  challenged  the  great  Republic  of  the  West.  We 
know  what  America  can  do,  and  we  also  know  that  now 
she  is  in  it,  she  will  do  it.  She  will  wage  an  effective  and 
successful  war. 

There  is  something  more  important.  She  will  insure  a 
beneficent  peace.  I  attach  great  importance — and  I  am 
the  last  man  in  the  world,  knowing  for  three  years  what 
our  difficulties  have  been,  what  our  anxieties  have  been, 
and  what  our  fears  have  been — I  am  the  last  man  to  say 
that  the  succor  which  is  given  us  from  America  is  not 
something  in  itself  to  rejoice  in,  and  to  rejoice  in  greatly. 
But  I  do  not  mind  saying  that  I  rejoice  even  more  in  the 
knowledge  that  America  is  going  to  win  the  right  to  be  at 
the  conference  table  when  the  terms  of  peace  are  being 
discussed.  That  conference  will  settle  the  destiny  of 
nations — the  course  of  human  life — for  God  knows  how 
many  ages.  It  would  have  been  tragic  for  mankind  if 
America  had  not  been  there,  and  there  with  all  the  influ- 
ence, all  the  power,  and  the  right  which  she  now  has  won 
by  flinging  herself  into  this  great  struggle. 

I  can  see  peace  coming  now — not  a  peace  which  will 


260  DAVID  LLOYD-GEORGE 

be  the  beginning  of  war,  not  a  peace  which  will  be  an 
endless  preparation  for  strife  and  bloodshed;  but  a  real 
peace.  The  world  is  an  old  world.  It  has  been  rocking 
and  swaying  like  an  ocean,  and  Europe — poor  Europe! — 
has  always  lived  under  the  shadow  of  the  sword.  When 
this  war  began,  two-thirds  of  Europe  was  under  auto- 
cratic rule.  Now  it  is  the  other  way  about;  and  democ- 
racy means  peace.  The  democracy  of  France  did  not 
want  war;  the  democracy  of  Italy  hesitated  long  before 
they  entered  the  war;  the  democracy  of  this  country 
shrank  from  it — shrank  and  shuddered — and  never  would 
have  entered  the  caldron  had  it  not  been  for  the  inva- 
sion of  Belgium.  The  democracies  sought  for  peace; 
strove  for  peace.  If  Prussia  had  been  a  democracy  there 
would  have  been  no  war.  Strange  things  have  happened 
in  this  war.  There  are  stranger  things  to  come,  and 
they  are  coming  rapidly. 

There  are  times  in  history  when  this  world  spins  so 
leisurely  along  its  destined  course  that  it  seems  for  cen- 
turies to  be  at  a  standstill ;  but  there  are  also  times  when 
it  rushes  along  at  a  giddy  pace,  covering  the  track  of 
centuries  in  a  year.  Those  are  the  times  we  are  living 
now.  Six  weeks  ago  Russia  was  an  autocracy;  she  is 
now  one  of  the  most  advanced  democracies  in  the  world. 
To-day  we  are  waging  the  most  devastating  war  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen ;  to-*rnorrow — perhaps  not  a  distant 
to-morrow — war  may  be  abolished  forever  from  the  cate- 
gory of  human  crimes.  This  may  be  something  like  the 
fierce  outburst  of  winter  which  we  are  now  witnessing 
before  the  complete  triumph  of  the  sun.  It  is  written  of 
those  gallant  men  who  won  that  victory  Monday  3 — men 
from  Canada,  from  Australia,  and  from  this  old  country, 
which  has  proved  that  in  spite  of  its  age  it  is  not  decrepit 
— it  is  written  of  those  gallant  men  that  they  attacked 
with  the  dawn — fit  work  for  the  dawn! — to  drive  out  of 


AMERICA'S  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  WAR    261 

forty  miles  of  French  soil  those  miscreants  who  had  de- 
filed it  for  three  years.  "  They  attacked  with  the  dawn." 
Significant  phrase! 

The  breaking  up  of  the  dark  rule  of  the  Turk,  which 
for  centuries  had  clouded  the  sunniest  land  in  the  world, 
the  freeing  of  Russia  from  an  oppression  which  had  cov- 
ered it  like  a  shroud  for  so  long,  the  great  declaration  of 
President  Wilson  coming  with  the  might  of  the  great 
nation  which  he  represents  into  the  struggle  for  liberty  are 
heralds  of  the  dawn.  "  They  attacked  with  the  dawn," 
and  these  men  are  marching  forward  in  the  full  radiance 
of  that  dawn,  and  soon  Frenchmen  and  Americans,  Brit- 
ish, Italians,  Russians,  yea,  and  Serbians,  Belgians,  Mon- 
tenegrins, will  emerge  into  the  full  light  of  a  perfect  day. 

Compare  Lloyd-George's  literary  and  oratorical  style  with 
that  of  President  Wilson. 

Had  the  United  States  ever  formed  a  military  alliance  with 
Great  Britain  previous  to  this  war? 

Show,  if  you  can,  how  all  the  wars  in  which  America  en- 
gaged had  liberty  for  their  objective. 

What  was  Lloyd-George's  meaning  when  he  said  "  democracy 
means  peace  "? 

Did  America,  as  Lloyd-George  hoped,  profit  by  England's 
mistakes? 

Compare  the  peroration  with  the  closing  of  one  of  Wilson's 
great  addresses. 

What  effect  was  produced  in  England  by  America's  entrance 
into  the  war? 


PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FLAG  DAY  SPEECH 

June   14,  1917 

As  soon  as  Congress  had  passed  the  resolution  declar- 
ing war  with  Germany,  the  United  States  government 
began  to  put  forth  its  utmost  resources  to  prepare  an 
army.  It  seemed  best  to  adopt  universal  military 
service,  since  volunteer  service  was  neither  efficient  nor 
truly  democratic.  On  May  18,  1917,  Congress  with 
some  opposition  passed  the  selective  draft  law;  and 
the  President  issued  a  proclamation  in  which  he  said 
the  word  conscription  was  used,  not  because  any  were 
unwilling.  It  signified  "  rather  a  selection  from  a  na- 
tion which  has  volunteered  in  mass." 

The  hopes  thus  expressed  were  realized.  On  June 
5,  the  day  of  registration,  "  ten  million  men,  rich  and 
poor  alike,  left  their  occupations  and  responded  to  the 
call  quietly,  gravely,  willingly."  As  they  prepared  to 
leave  their  homes  and  all  that  they  most  prized,  they 
could  not  help  considering  whether  country  and  insti- 
tutions were  worth  the  sacrifice.  The  result  of  their 
deliberation  was  a  more  complete  devotion,  a  more 
ardent  patriotism,  and  a  deeper  reverence  for  the  flag. 

It  was,  therefore,  to  a  nation  serious-minded  and 
deeply  devoted  to  its  new  duties,  that  President  Wilson 
spoke  on  June  14,  1917.  It  had  been  planned,  in  con- 
nection with  an  elaborate  celebration  of  Flag  Day  in 
the  Capital  city  of  the  nation,  that  the  President  should 
deliver  an  address  in  the  park  near  Washington  Monu- 
ment. The  weather  proved  to  be  unfavorable.  Sev- 
eral thousand  people,  nevertheless,  gathered  in  the  rain 

262 


THE  FLAG  DAY  SPEECH  263 

about  the  speaker's  stand  and  awaited  eagerly  the  ad- 
dress of  the  Chief  Executive.  Most  of  the  members 
of  the  cabinet  were  present.  Robert  L.  Lansing,  sec- 
retary of  state,  introduced  the  speaker.  The  President 
made  use  of  the  occasion  to  speak  to  those  who  were 
soon  to  follow  the  flag  into  foreign  lands  of  the  occur- 
rences which  had  caused  the  nation  to  cast  aside  its 
old  traditions  and  adopt  new  views.  He  told  of  the 
evils  to  be  overcome,  and  spoke  eloquently  of  purposes 
and  principles  that  were  destined,  with  the  help  of  our 
army,  to  bring  a  better  day  to  the  world  and  to  add  a 
new  luster  to  the  flag. 


THE  FLAG  DAY  SPEECH 

Woodrow  Wilson 

My  Fellow  Citizens:  We  meet  to  celebrate  Flag  Day  } 
because  this  flag  which  we  honor  and  under  which  we 
serve  is  the  emblem  of  our  unity,  our  power,  our  thought 
and  purpose  as  a  nation.  It  has  no  other  character  2  than 
that  which  we  give  it  from  generation  to  generation. 
The  choices  are  ours.  It  floats  in  majestic  silence  above 
the  hosts  that  execute  those  choices,  whether  in  peace  or 
in  war.  And  yet,  though  silent,  it  speaks  to  us — speaks  to 
us  of  the  past,  of  the  men  and  women  who  went  before  us 
and  of  the  records  they  wrote  upon  it.  We  celebrate  the 
day  of  its  birth ;  and  from  its  birth  until  now  it  has  wit- 
nessed a  great  history,  has  floated  on  high  the  symbol  of 
great  events,  of  a  great  plan  of  life  worked  out  by  a 
great  people.  We  are  about  to  carry  it  into  battle,  to  lift 
it  where  it  will  draw  the  fire  of  our  enemies.  We  are 
about  to  bid  thousands,  hundreds  of  thousands,  it  may  be 
millions  of  our  men,  the  young,  the  strong,  the  capable 


264  WOODROW  WILSON 

men  of  the  Nation,  to  go  forth  and  die  beneath  it  on 
fields  of  blood  far  away — for  what?  For  some  unaccus- 
tomed thing?  For  something  for  which  it  has  never 
sought  the  fire  before?  American  armies  were  never  be- 
fore sent  across  the  seas.  Why  are  they  sent  now?  For 
some  new  purpose  for  which  this  great  flag  has  never  been 
carried  before,  or  for  some  old,  familiar,  heroic  purpose  for 
which  it  has  seen  men,  its  own  men,  die  on  every  battle 
field  upon  which  Americans  have  borne  arms  since  the 
Revolution  ? 

These  are  questions  which  must  be  answered.  We  are 
Americans.  We  in  our  turn  serve  America,  and  can 
serve  her  with  no  private  purpose.  We  must  use  her 
flag  as  she  has  always  used  it.  We  are  accountable  at 
the  bar  of  history  and  must  plead  in  utter  frankness  what 
purpose  it  is  we  seek  to  serve.  It  is  plain  enough  how 
we  were  forced  into  the  war.  The  extraordinary  insults 
and  aggressions  of  the  Imperial  German  Government  left 
us  no  self-respecting  choice  but  to  take  up  arms  in  defense 
of  our  rights  as  a  free  people  and  of  our  honor  as  a 
sovereign  government.  The  military  masters  of  Ger- 
many denied  us  the  right  to  be  neutral.  They  filled  our 
unsuspecting  communities  with  vicious  spies  and  con- 
spirators and  sought  to  corrupt  the  opinion  of  our  people 
in  their  own  behalf.  When  they  found  that  they  could 
not  do  that  their  agents  diligently  spread  sedition  among 
us  and  sought  to  draw  our  own  citizens  from  their  al- 
legiance— and  some  of  these  agents  were  men  connected 
with  the  official  embassy  of  the  German  Government  itself 
here  in  our  own  capital.3  They  sought  by  violence  to 
destroy  our  industries  and  arrest  our  commerce.  They 
tried  to  incite  Mexico  to  take  up  arms  against  us  and  to 
draw  Japan  into  a  hostile  alliance  with  her — and  that,  not 
by  indirection  but  by  direct  suggestion  from  the  Foreign 
Office  in  Berlin.    They  impudently  denied  us  the  use  of 


THE  FLAG  DAY  SPEECH  265 

the  high  seas  and  repeatedly  executed  their  threat  that 
they  would  send  to  their  death  any  of  our  people  who  ven- 
tured to  approach  the  coasts  of  Europe.  And  many  of  our 
own  people  were  corrupted.  Men  began  to  look  upon 
their  own  neighbors  with  suspicion  and  to  wonder  in  their 
hot  resentment  and  surprise  whether  there  was  any  com- 
munity in  which  hostile  intrigue  did  not  lurk.  What 
great  nation  in  such  circumstances  would  not  have  taken 
up  arms?  Much  as  we  had  desired  peace  it  was  denied 
us,  and  not  of  our  own  choice.  This  flag  under  wrrch 
we  serve  would  have  been  dishonored  had  we  withheld 
our  hand. 

But  that  is  only  part  of  the  story.  We  know  now  as 
clearly  as  we  knew  before  we  were  ourselves  engaged 
that  we  are  not  the  enemies  of  the  German  people  and 
that  they  are  not  our  enemies.  They  did  not  originate  or 
desire  this  hideous  war  or  wish  that  we  should  be  drawn 
into  it ;  and  we  are  vaguely  conscious  that  we  are  fighting 
their  cause,  as  they  will  some  day  see  it,  as  well  as  our 
own.  They  are  themselves  in  the  grip  of  the  same  sinister 
power  that  has  now  at  last  stretched  its  ugly  talons  out 
and  drawn  blood  from  us.  The  whole  world  is  at  war 
because  the  whole  world  is  in  the  grip  of  that  power  and 
is  trying  out  the  great  battle  which  shall  determine 
whether  it  is  to  be  brought  under  its  mastery  or  fling  itself 
free. 

The  war  was  begun  by  the  military  masters  of  Ger- 
many, who  proved  to  be  also  the  masters  of  Austria- 
Hungary.  These  men  have  never  regarded  nations  as 
peoples,  men,  women,  and  children  of  like  blood  and 
framed  as  themselves,  for  whom  governments  existed 
and  in  whom  governments  had  their  life.  They  have 
regarded  them  merely  as  serviceable  organizations  which 
they  could  by  force  or  intrigue  bend  or  corrupt  to  their 
own  purpose.     They  have  regarded  the  smaller  states  in 


266  WOODROW  WILSON 

particular  and  the  peoples  who  could  be  overwhelmed  by 
force  as  their  natural  tools  and  instruments  of  domina- 
tion. Their  purpose  has  long  been  avowed.  The  states- 
men of  other  nations,  to  whom  that  purpose  was  incredible, 
paid  little  attention;  regarded  what  German  professors 
expounded  in  their  class  rooms,  and  German  writers  set 
forth  to  the  world  as  the  goal  of  German  policy,  as 
rather  the  dream  of  minds  detached  from  practical  affairs, 
as  preposterous  private  conceptions  of  German  destiny, 
than  as  the  actual  plans  of  responsible  rulers;  but  the 
rulers  of  Germany  themselves  knew  all  the  while  what 
concrete  plans,  what  well-advanced  intrigues,  lay  back 
of  what  the  professors  and  the  writers  were  saying,  and 
were  glad  to  go  forward  unmolested,  filling  the  thrones 
of  Balkan  states  with  German  princes,  putting  German 
officers  at  the  service  of  Turkey  to  drill  her  armies  and 
make  interest  with  her  government,  developing  plans  of 
sedition  and  rebellion  in  India  and  Egypt,  setting  their 
fires  in  Persia.  The  demands  made  by  Austria  upon 
Serbia  were  a  mere  single  step  in  a  plan  which  compassed 
Europe  and  Asia,  from  Berlin  to  Bagdad.  They  hoped 
those  demands  might  not  arouse  Europe,  but  they  meant 
to  press  them  whether  they  did  or  not,  for  they  thought 
themselves  ready  for  the  final  issue  of  arms. 

Their  plan  was  to  throw  a  broad  belt  of  German 
military  power  and  political  control  across  the  very 
center  of  Europe  and  beyond  the  Mediterranean  into  the 
heart  of  Asia,  and  Austria-Hungary  was  to  be  as  much 
their  tool  and  pawn  as  Serbia  or  Bulgaria  or  Turkey  or 
the  ponderous  states  of  the  East.  Austria-Hungary,  in- 
deed, was  to  become  part  of  the  Central  German  Empire, 
absorbed  and  dominated  by  the  same  forces  and  influences 
that  had  originally  cemented  the  German  states  them- 
selves. The  dream  had  its  heart  at  Berlin.  It  could 
have  had  a  heart  nowhere  else.     It  rejected  the  idea  of 


THE  FLAG  DAY  SPEECH  267 

solidarity  of  race  entirely.  The  choice  of  peoples  played 
no  part  in  it  at  all.  It  contemplated  binding  together 
racial  and  political  units  which  could  be  kept  together 
only  by  force — Czechs,  Magyars,  Croats,  Serbs,  Ruman- 
ians, Turks,  Armenians — the  proud  states  of  Bohemia 
and  Hungary,  the  stout  little  commonwealths  of  the  Bal- 
kans, the  indomitable  Turks,  the  subtle  peoples  of  the 
East.  These  people  did  not  wish  to  be  united.  They 
ardently  desired  to  direct  their  own  affairs,  and  would 
be  satisfied  only  by  undisputed  independence.  They  could 
be  kept  quiet  only  by  the  presence  or  the  constant  threat 
of  armed  men.  They  would  live  under  a  common  power 
only  by  sheer  compulsion  and  await  the  day  of  revolution. 
But  the  German  military  statesmen  had  reckoned  with  all 
that  and  were  ready  to  deal  with  it  in  their  own  way. 

And  they  have  actually  carried  the  greater  part  of  that 
amazing  plan  into  execution!  Look  how  things  stand. 
Austria  is  at  their  mercy.  It  has  acted,  not  upon  its  own 
initiative  or  upon  the  choice  of  its  own  people,  but  at 
Berlin's  dictation  ever  since  the  war  began.  Its  people 
now  desire  peace,  but  cannot  have  it  until  leave  is 
granted  from  Berlin.  The  so-called  Central  Powers  are 
in  fact  but  a  single  Power.  Servia  is  at  its  mercy,  should 
its  hands  be  but  for  a  moment  freed.  Bulgaria  has  con-' 
sented  to  its  will,  and  Roumania  is  overrun.  The  Turkish 
armies,  which  Germany  trained,  are  serving  Germany, 
certainly  not  themselves,  and  the  guns  of  German  war- 
ships4  lying  in  the  harbor  at  Constantinople  remind 
Turkish  statesmen  every  day  that  they  have  no  choice  but 
to  take  their  orders  from  Berlin.  From  Hamburg  to  the 
Persian  Gulf  the  net  is  spread. 

Is  it  not  easy  to  understand  the  eagerness  for  peace  that 
has  been  manifested  from  Berlin  ever  since  the  snare  was 
set  and  sprung?  Peace,  peace,  peace  has  been  the  talk  of 
of  her  Foreign  Office  for  now  a  year  and  more ;  not  peace 


268  WOODROW  WILSON 

upon  her  own  intiative,  but  upon  the  initiative  of  the  na- 
tions over  which  she  now  deems  herself  to  hold  the  advan- 
tage. A  little  of  the  talk  has  been  public,  but  most  of  it 
has  been  private.  Through  all  sorts  of  channels  it  has 
come  to  me,  and  in  all  sorts  of  guises,  but  never  with  the 
terms  disclosed  which  the  German  Government  would  be 
willing  to  accept.  That  government  has  other  valuable 
pawns  in  its  hands  besides  those  I  have  mentioned.  It 
still  holds  a  valuable  part  of  France,  though  with  slowly 
relaxing  grasp,  and  practically  the  whole  of  Belgium.  Its 
armies  press  close  upon  Russia  and  overrun  Poland  at 
their  will.  It  cannot  go  further;  it  dare  not  go  back.  It 
wishes  to  close  its  bargain  before  it  is  too  late  and  it  has 
little  left  to  offer  for  the  pound  of  flesh  it  will  demand. 
The  military  masters  under  whom  Germany  is  bleeding 
see  very  clearly  to  what  point  Fate  has  brought  them.  If 
they  fall  back  or  are  forced  back  an  inch,  their  power 
both  abroad  and  at  home  will  fall  to  pieces  like  a  house 
of  cards.  It  is  their  power  at  home  they  are  thinking 
about  now  more  than  their  power  abroad.  It  is  that 
power  which  is  trembling  under  their  very  feet ;  and  deep 
fear  has  entered  their  hearts.  They  have  but  one  chance 
to  perpetuate  their  military  power  or  even  their  con- 
trolling political  influence.  If  they  can  secure  peace  now 
with  the  immense  advantages  still  in  their  hands  which 
they  have  up  to  this  point  apparently  gained,  they  will 
have  justified  themselves  before  the  German  people:  they 
will  have  gained  by  force  what  they  promised  to  gain  by 
it:  an  immense  expansion  of  German  power,  an  immense 
enlargement  of  German  industrial  and  commercial  oppor- 
tunities. Their  prestige  will  be  secure,  and  with  their 
prestige  their  political  power.  If  they  fail,  their  people 
will  thrust  them  aside;  a  government  accountable  to  the 
people  themselves  will  be  set  up  in  Germany  as  it  has  been 
in  England,  in  the  United  States,  in  France,  and  in  all  the 


THE  FLAG  DAY  SPEECH  269 

great  countries  of  the  modern  time  except  Germany.  If 
they  succeed  they  are  safe  and  Germany  and  the  world 
are  undone;  if  they  fail  Germany  is  saved  and  the  world 
will  be  at  peace.  If  they  succeed,  America  will  fall  within 
the  menace.  We  and  all  the  rest  of  the  world  must  re- 
main armed,  as  they  will  remain,  and  must  make  ready  for 
the  next  step  in  their  aggression;  if  they  fail,  the  world 
may  unite  for  peace  and  Germany  may  be  of  the  union. 

Do  you  not  now  understand  the  new  intrigue,  the  in- 
trigue for  peace,  and  why  the  masters  of  Germany  do  not 
hesitate  to  use  any  agency  that  promises  to  effect  their  pur- 
pose, the  deceit  of  the  nations?  Their  present  particular 
aim  is  to  deceive  all  those  who  throughout  the  world  stand 
for  the  rights  of  peoples  and  the  self-government  of  na- 
tions; for  they  see  what  immense  strength  the  forces  of 
justice  and  of  liberalism  are  gathering  out  of  this  war. 
They  are  employing  liberals  in  their  enterprise.  They  are 
using  men,  in  Germany  and  without,  as  their  spokesmen 
whom  they  have  hitherto  despised  and  oppressed,  using 
them  for  their  own  destruction, — socialists,  the  leaders 
of  labor,  the  thinkers  they  have  hitherto  sought  to  silence. 
Let  them  once  succeed  and  these  men,  now  their  tools,  will 
be  ground  to  powder  beneath  the  weight  of  the  great 
military  empire  they  will  have  set  up ;  the  revolutionists  in 
Russia  will  be  cut  off  from  all  succor  or  cooperation  in 
western  Europe  and  a  counter  revolution  fostered  and 
supported;  Germany  herself  will  lose  her  chance  for 
freedom;  and  all  Europe  will  arm  for  the  next,  the  final 
struggle. 

The  sinister  intrigue  is  being  no  less  actively  conducted 
in  this  country  than  in  Russia  and  in  every  country  in 
Europe  to  which  the  agents  and  dupes  of  the  Imperial 
German  Government  can  get  access.  That  government 
has  many  spokesmen  here,  in  places  high  and  low.  They 
have  learned  discretion.    They  keep  within  the  law.     It  is 


270  WOODROW  WILSON 

opinion  they  utter  now,  not  sedition.  They  proclaim  the 
liberal  purposes  of  their  masters;  declare  this  a  foreign 
war  which  can  touch  America  with  no  danger  to  either 
her  lands  or  her  institutions;  set  England  at  the  center  of 
the  stage  and  talk  of  her  ambition  to  assert  economic 
dominion  throughout  the  world ;  appeal  to  our  ancient 
tradition  of  isolation  5  in  the  politics  of  the  nations ;  and 
seek  to  undermine  the  government  with  false  professions 
of  loyalty  to  its  principles. 

But  they  will  make  no  headway.  The  false  betray 
themselves  always  in  every  accent.  It  is  only  friends  and 
partisans  of  the  German  Government  whom  we  have  al- 
ready identified  who  utter  these  thinly  disguised  dis- 
loyalties. The  facts  are  patent  to  all  the  world,  and  no- 
where are  they  more  plainly  seen  than  in  the  United 
States,  where  we  are  accustomed  to  deal  with  facts  and  not 
with  sophistries;  and  the  great  fact  that  stands  out  above 
all  the  rest  is  that  this  is  a  peoples'  war,  a  war  for  free- 
dom and  justice  and  self-government  amongst  all  the 
nations  of  the  world,  a  war  to  make  the  world  safe  for 
the  peoples  who  live  upon  it  and  have  made  it  their  own, 
the  German  people  themselves  included ;  and  that  with 
us  rests  the  choice  to  break  through  all  these  hypocrisies 
and  patent  cheats  and  masks  of  brute  force  and  help  set 
the  world  free,  or  else  stand  aside  and  let  it  be  dominated 
a  long  age  through  by  sheer  weight  of  arms  and  the  arbi- 
trary choices  of  self-constituted  masters,  by  the  nation 
which  can  maintain  the  biggest  armies  and  the  most  irre- 
sistible armaments, — a  power  to  which  the  world  has 
afforded  no  parallel  and  in  the  face  of  which  political 
freedom  must  wither  and  perish.      / 

For  us  there  is  but  one  choice.  We  have  made  it.  Woe 
be  to  the  man  or  group  of  men  tKat  seeks  to  stand  in  our 
way  in  this  day  of  high  resolution  when  every  principle  we 
hold  dearest  is  to  be  vindicated  and  made  secure  for  the 


THE  FLAG  DAY  SPEECH  271 

salvation  of  the  nations.  We  are  ready  to  plead  at  the 
bar  of  history,  and  our  flag  shall  wear  a  new  luster.  Once 
more  we  shall  make  good  with  our  lives  and  fortunes  the 
great  faith  to  which  we  were  born,  and  a  new  glory  shall 
shine  in  the  face  of  our  people. 

Which  is  the  more  democratic,  universal  military  service  or 
volunteer  service? 

What  is  your  answer  to  President  Wilson's  question?  Was 
it  for  some  new  purpose,  or  for  some  old  familiar  purpose, 
that  our  soldiers  were  sent  across  the  sea  in  1917? 

Is  the  President's  account  of  German  intrigue  chiefly  argu- 
mentative  or  persuasive? 

Discuss  the  danger  of  Germany's  peace  intrigue.  What  steps 
had  been  taken  in  America  at  this  time  to  combat  it? 

What  did  President  Wilson  mean  when  he  said  "  our  flag 
shall  wear  a  new  luster"? 


PRUSSIANIZED  GERMANY 

September  26,   1917 

The  declaration  of  war  against  Germany  was  passed 
by  Congress  with  a  vote  of  461  to  56 ;  and  probably  an 
even  larger  proportion  of  the  citizens  of  the  country 
was  at  that  time  in  favor  of  resisting  the  Central  Em- 
pires through  force  of  arms.  When  the  Selective 
Draft  Law  was  enacted  the  people  responded  with 
remarkable  good-will.  Even  in  remote  districts  settled 
largely  by  citizens  of  foreign  birth  the  burdens  of  mili- 
tary life  were  accepted  with  far  less  disturbance  than 
had  marked  the  enforcement  of  the  draft  in  New 
York  City  in  1861.  There  was  in  19 17  no  open  re- 
sistance to  the  authority  of  the  government ;  neverthe- 
less there  remained  throughout  the  country  numerous 
individual  agitators  of  noisy  dispositions  and  pro- 
German  sympathies;  and  German  propagandists  were 
still  able  to  arouse  among  pacifists,  obstructionists,  and 
some  citizens  of  foreign  birth,  a  babble  of  talk  more 
or  less  seditious  in  its  nature.  Newspapers  under 
German  influence  or  control,  abused  their  privilege  of 
free  speech ;  and  by  conflicting  advice  as  well  as  by 
direct  opposition,  endeavored  to  prevent  the  nation 
from  taking  the  speedy,  vigorous,  and  unified  action 
that  is  essential  to  military  success. 

The  success  of  America's  part  in  the  war  might  have 
been  seriously  endangered  had  not  the  government 
and  various  organizations  of  patriotic  citizens  taken 
vigorous  means  to  curb  the  action  of  spies  and  enemy 
agents  and  to  impress  upon  pacifists  the  fact  that  it 

272 


PRUSSIANIZED  GERMANY  273 

was  no  time  to  talk  of  the  blessings  of  peace  when  the 
country  was  at  war.  Citizens  of  foreign  birth  were 
also  informed  that  cosmopolitan  views  must  make  way 
for  American  ideals. 

When  the  United  States  first  entered  the  Great  War, 
much  sympathy  had  been  felt  for  the  citizens  of  Ger- 
man birth  whose  friends  and  relatives  were  enrolled  in 
the  armies  of  the  enemy.  To  a  fault  native  citizens 
had  been  considerate  of  their  feelings.  As  soon,  how- 
ever, as  seditious  talk,  fanned  by  German  intrigue, 
flared  up  among  the  foreign  born  population,  resent- 
ment was  everywhere  aroused.  Opposition  to  disloyal 
agitation  became  intense  throughout  the  country,  and 
organized  effort  was  used  to  bring  sedition  to  an  end. 

Not  all  German-Americans  were  pro-German  in 
their  sympathies.  Certain  Americans  of  German  birth 
were  conspicuous  for  their  patriotic  devotion  to  Amer- 
ican institutions  and  for  their  abhorrence  of  the  aims 
of  Prussian  autocracy.  If  Germany  had  hoped  that 
through  the  use  of  subsidized  newspapers  and  clandes- 
tine associations,  she  could  array  the  entire  American 
citizenship  of  German  descent  on  the  side  of  the  Fa- 
therland, she  was  defeated  as  completely  as  in  any 
battle  of  the  war.  Among  the  first  to  shed  their  blood 
for  America  were  citizens  with  German  names. 

Among  men  of  German  birth  who  at  this  time  ren- 
dered conspicuous  service  to  the  nation  was  Otto  H. 
Kahn.  It  was  partly  through  his  influence  that  late 
in  191 7  practically  every  form  of  disloyal  utterance 
was  discontinued  or  stamped  out.  He  had  faith  that 
an  argumentative  and  persuasive  appeal  addressed  di- 
rectly to  citizens  of  foreign  birth  who  were  speaking 
sedition  or  were  adhering  to  their  oath  of  allegiance 
with  half-hearted  loyalty  would  be  effective  both  to 
seal  their  lips  and  to  change  their  aims  and  sympathies* 


274  OTTO  H.  KAHN 

On  September  26,  1917,  while  the  country  was  still 
aroused  with  efforts  to  end  seditious  agitation,  Mr. 
Kahn  delivered  a  patriotic  address  before  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  in  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  a  city  in- 
habited by  people  of  German  ancestry  and  situated  in  a 
region  in  which  the  German  language  was  extensively 
spoken.  His  speech  was  remarkably  effective.  It 
spread  far  beyond  the  hall  where  it  was  spoken  and 
brought  to  the  hearts  of  naturalized  American  citizens 
a  clearer  understanding  of  the  obligations  involved  in 
the  oath  of  citizenship.  It  stirred  millions  of  German- 
Americans  and  other  hyphenated  Americans  to  higher 
standards  of  loyalty  and  recorded  in  English  of  un- 
usual excellence  a  final  disapproval  of  racial  subdivi- 
sions in  American  citizenship. 


PRUSSIANIZED  GERMANY 

Otto  H.  Kahn 

I  speak  as  one  who  has  seen  the  spirit  of  the  Prussian 
governing  class  at  work  from  close  by,  having  at  its 
disposal  and  using  to  the  full  practically  every  agency  for 
molding  the  public  mind. 

I  have  watched  it  proceed  with  relentless  persistency 
and  profound  cunning  to  instill  into  the  nation  the 
demoniacal  obsession  of  power-worship  and  world- 
dominion,  to  modify  and  pervert  the  mentality — indeed 
the  very  fibre  and  moral  Substance — of  the  German 
people,  a  people  which  until  misled,  corrupted  and  sys- 
tematically poisoned  by  the  Prussian  ruling  caste,  was  and 
deserved  to  be,  an  honored,  valued,  and  welcome  member 
of  the  family  of  nations. 
.    I  have  hated  that  spirit  ever  since  it  came  within  my 


PRUSSIANIZED  GERMANY  275 

ken  many  years  ago;  hated  it  all  the  more  as  I  saw  it 
ruthlessly  pulling  down  a  thing  which  was  dear  to  me — 
the  old  Germany  to  which  I  was  linked  by  ties  of  blood, 
by  fond  memories,  and  cherished  sentiments. 

The  difference  in  the  degree  of  guilt  as  between  the 
German  people  and  their  Prussian  or  Prussianized  rulers 
and  leaders  for  the  monstrous  crime  of  this  war  and  the 
atrocious  barbarism  of  its  conduct  is  the  difference  be- 
tween the  man  who,  acting  under  the  influence  of  a  poison- 
ous drug,  runs  amuck  in  mad  frenzy,  and  the  unspeakable 
malefactor  who  administered  that  drug,  well  knowing 
and  fully  intending  the  ghastly  consequences  which  were 
bound  to  follow. 

The  world  fervently  longs  for  peace.  But  there  can 
be  no  peace  answering  to  the  true  meaning  of  the  word — 
no  peace  permitting  the  nations  of  the  earth,  great  and 
small,  to  walk  unarmed  and  unafraid — until  the  teach- 
ing and  the  leadership  of  the  apostles  of  an  outlaw  creed 
shall  have  become  discredited  and  hateful  in  the  sight 
of  the  German  people;  until  that  people  shall  have  awak- 
ened to  a  consciousness  of  the  unfathomable  guilt  of  those 
whom  they  have  followed  into  calamity  and  shame;  until 
a  mood  of  penitence  and  of  a  decent  respect  for  the 
opinions  of  mankind  shall  have  supplanted  the  sway  of 
what  President  Wilson  has  so  trenchantly  termed  "  trucu- 
lence  and  treachery." 

God  strengthen  the  conscience  and  the  understanding, 
the  will  and  the  power  of  the  German  people  so  that  they 
may  find  the  only  way  which  will  give  to  the  world  an 
early  peace,  the  only  road  *  which  in  time  will  lead  Ger- 
many back  into  the  family  of  nations  from  which  it  is 
now  an  outcast. 

From  each  successive  visit  to  Germany  for  twenty-five 
years  I  came  away  more  appalled  by  the  sinister  transmu- 
tation Prussianism  had  wrought  amongst  the  people  and 


276  OTTO  H.  KAHN 

by  the  portentous  menace  I  recognized  in  it  for  the  entire 
world. 

It  has  given  to  Germany  unparalleled  prosperity,  bene- 
ficent and  advanced  social  legislation,  and  not  a  few  other 
things  of  value,  but  it  had  taken  in  payment  the  soul  of 
the  race.     It  had  made  a  "  devil's  bargain." 

And  when  this  war  broke  out  in  Europe  I  knew  that 
the  issue  had  been  joined  between  the  powers  of  brutal 
might  and  insensate  ambition  on  the  one  side  and  the 
forces  of  humanity  and  liberty  on  the  other;  between 
darkness  and  light. 

Many  there  were  at  that  time — and  amongst  them  men 
for  whose  character  I  had  high  respect  and  whose  mo- 
tives were  beyond  any  possible  suspicion — who  saw  their 
own  and  America's  duty  in  strict  neutrality,  mentally 
and  actually,  but  personally  I  believed  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war,  whether  we  liked  all  the  elements  of  the 
Allies  combination  or  not — and  I  certainly  did  not  like 
the  Russia  of  the  Czars — that  the  cause  of  the  Allies  was 
America's  cause. 

I  believed  that  this  was  no  ordinary  war  between  peo- 
ples for  a  question  of  national  interest,  or  even  national 
honor,  but  a  conflict  between  fundamental  principles,  aims, 
and  ideas;  and  so  believing  I  was  bound  to  feel  that  the 
natural  lines  of  race,  blood  and  kinship  could  not  be  the 
determining  lines  for  one's  attitude  and  alignment,  but 
that  each  man,  regardless  of  his  origin,  had  to  decide  ac- 
cording to  his  judgment  and  conscience  on  which  side  was 
the  right  and  on  which  was  the  wrong  and  take  his  stand 
accordingly,  whatever  the  wrench  and  anguish  of  the  de- 
cision.    And  thus  I  took  my  stand  three  years  ago. 

But  whatever  one's  views  and  feelings,  whatever  the 
country  of  one's  birth  or  kin,  only  one  course  2  was  left 
for  all  those  claiming  the  privilige  of  American  citizen- 
ship when  after  infinite  forbearance  the  President  decided 


PRUSSIANIZED  GERMANY  277 

that  our  duty,  honor,  and  safety  demanded  that  we  take 
up  arms  against  the  Imperial  German  Government,  and 
by  action  of  Congress  the  cause  and  the  fight  against  that 
Government  were  declared  our  cause  and  our  fight. 

The  duty  of  loyal  allegiance  and  faithful  service  to  his 
country,  even  unto  death,  rests,  of  course,  upon  every 
American.  But,  if  it  be  possible  to  speak  of  a  compara- 
tive degree  concerning  what  is  the  highest  as  it  is  the 
most  elementary  attribute  of  citizenship,  that  duty  may 
almost  be  said  to  rest  with  an  even  more  solemn  and 
compelling  obligation  upon  Americans  of  foreign  origin 
than  upon  native  Americans. 

For  we  Americans  of  foreign  antecedents  are  here  not 
by  the  accidental  right  of  birth,  but  by  our  own  free 
choice  for  better  or  for  worse. 

We  are  your  fellow  citizens  because  we  made  solemn 
oath  of  allegiance  to  America.  Accepting  that  oath  as 
given  in  good  faith,  you  have  opened  to  us  in  generous 
trust  the  portals  of  American  opportunity  and  freedom, 
and  have  admitted  us  to  membership  in  the  family  of 
Americans,  giving  us  equal  rights  in  the  great  inheritance 
which  has  been  created  by  the  blood  and  the  toil  of  your 
ancestors,  asking  nothing  from  us  in  return  but  decent 
citizenship  and  adherence  to  those  ideals  and  principles 
which  are  symbolized  by  the  glorious  flag  of  America. 

Woe  to  the  foreign-born  American  who  betrays  the 
trust  which  you  have  reposed  in  him ! 

Woe  to  him  who  considers  his  American  citizenship 
merely  as  a  convenient  garment  to  be  worn  in  fair  weather 
but  to  be  exchanged  for  another  one  in  time  of  storm  and 
stress ! 

Woe  to  the  German-American,  so-called  who,  in  this  sa- 
cred war  for  a  cause  as  high  as  any  for  which  ever  people 
took  up  arms,  does  not  feel  a  solemn  urge,  does  not  show 
an  eager  determination  to  be  in  the  very  fore-front  of  the 


278  OTTO  H.  KAHN 

struggle;  does  not  prove  a  patriot's  jealousy,  in  thought, 
in  action,  and  in  speech  to  rival  and  to  outdo  his  native- 
born  fellow  citizen  in  devotion  and  in  willing  sacrifice  for 
the  country  of  his  choice  and  adoption  and  sworn  al- 
legiance, and  of  their  common  affection  and  pride. 

As  Washington  led  Americans  of  British  blood  to  fight 
against  Great  Britain,  as  Lincoln  called  upon  Americans 
of  the  North  to  fight  their  very  brothers  of  the  South,  so 
Americans  of  German  descent  are  now  summoned  to  join 
in  our  country's  righteous  struggle  against  a  people  of  their 
own  blood,  which,  under  the  evil  spell  of  a  dreadful 
obsession,  and,  Heaven  knows,  through  no  fault  of  ours, 
has  made  itself  the  enemy  of  this  peaceloving  nation,  as 
it  is  the  enemy  of  peace  and  right  and  freedom  through- 
out the  world. 

To  gain  America's  independence,  to  defeat  oppression 
and  tyranny,  was  indeed  to  gain  a  great  cause.  To  pre- 
serve the  Union,  to  eradicate  slavery,  was  perhaps  a 
greater  still.  To  defend  the  very  foundations  of  liberty 
and  humanity,  the  very  groundwork  of  fair  dealing  be- 
tween nations,  the  very  basis  of  peaceable  living  together 
among  the  peoples  of  the  earth  against  the  fierce  and 
brutal  onslaught  of  ruthless,  lawless,  faithless  might;  to 
spend  the  lives  and  the  fortunes  of  this  generation  so  that 
our  descendants  may  be  freed  from  the  dreadful  calamity 
of  war  and  the  fear  of  war,  so  that  the  energies  and  bil- 
lions of  treasure  now  devoted  to  plans  and  instruments 
of  destruction  may  be  given  henceforth  to  fruitful  works 
of  peace  and  progress  and  to  the  betterment  of  the  con- 
ditions of  the  people — that  is  the  highest  cause  for  which 
any  people  ever  unsheathed  its  sword. 

He  who  shirks  the  full  measure  of  his  duty  and  alle- 
giance in  that  noblest  of  causes,  be  he  German-American, 
Irish- American,  or  any  other  hyphenated  American,  be 
he  I.  W.  W.,  or  Socialist,  or  whatever  the  appellation, 


PRUSSIANIZED  GERMANY  279 

does  not  deserve  to  stand  amongst  Americans  or,  indeed, 
amongst  free  men  anywhere. 

He  who  tries,  secretly  or  overtly,  to  thwart  the  de- 
clared will  and  aim  of  the  nation  in  this  holy  war  is  a 
traitor,  and  a  traitor's  fate  should  be  his. 

Why  was  unity  of  sentiment  and  action  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance at  the  time  this  speech  was  delivered? 

What  means  does  Kahn  take  at  the  beginning  of  his  speech 
to  secure  the  sympathetic  attention  of  his  audience? 

Contrast  the  growth  of  the  American  spirit  with  that  of  the 
Prussian  military  despotism. 

What  seems  to  be  Kahn's  attitude  toward  the  transplanting 
to  America  of  European  languages,  customs,  and  modes  of 
living? 

What  means  does  Kahn  take  to  induce  German-Americans  to 
oppose  themselves  against  people  of  their  own  blood? 

Discuss  the  duties  and  privileges  of  an  "  American  by 
choice." 

Why  was  this  speech  widely  read  and  quoted? 


PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  ADDRESS  AT 
BALTIMORE 

April  6,  19 1 8 

In  the  spring  of  1918  the  forces  of  the  Central  Em- 
pires were  apparently  more  successful  than  at  any 
other  time  during  the  war.  Hundreds  of  square  miles 
of  Italian  territory  were  held  by  the  Austrians  and 
through  the  shameful  treaty  of  Brest-Litovsk  Russia 
had  become  the  slave  or  vassal  of  Germany.  The 
effect  in  America  of  this  success  on  the  part  of  our 
enemies  was  increased  activity  rather  than  discourage- 
ment. 

It  had  required  nearly  three  years  of  observation, 
study,  and  thought  before  America  could  be  aroused 
from  its  dream  of  peace  and  induced  to  take  part  in 
the  war.  It  took  a  year  of  participation  in  the  war 
before  activity  really  became  an  adequate  measure  of 
our  resources.  But  no  illusion  regarding  Prussian 
aims  could  be  cherished  subsequent  to  the  publication 
of  the  terms  of  the  Russian  treaties.  America  had 
cherished  the  ideal  of  liberty  through  enlightenment 
even  before  the  War  for  Independence  and  had 
throughout  her  career  been  incomparably  peace-loving. 
But  Prussian  autocracy  had  forced  her  in  a  few  brief 
years  to  organize  herself  into  a  great  war-machine 
fitted  to  answer  the  Hun  with  the  only  arguments  that 
he  could  understand.  With  vacillation  and  debate  left 
behind,  and  with  a  unity  of  purpose  and  sentiment  that 
was  awe-inspiring,  this  great  nation  in  April,    1918. 

280 


ADDRESS  AT  BALTIMORE    ,  281 

devoted  all  its  resources  almost  to  the  last  man  and 
the  last  dollar  to  the  war  for  liberty. 

Two  war  loans  had  already  been  floated  with  re- 
markable success.  Public  opinion  had  demanded  that 
every  penny  must  be  saved  for  the  fight.  Personal 
extravagance  was  a  disgrace.  The  curtailment  of  dis- 
play, the  wearing  of  old  clothes,  extreme  economy  in 
food,  were  universal.  When  the  Third  Liberty  Loan 
was  announced,  President  Wilson  was  asked  to  take 
part  in  the  opening  of  the  campaign.  On  April  6. 
19 1 8,  at  Batimore,  he  reviewed  twelve  thousand 
troops  from  Camp  Meade  and  a  little  later  at  the  Fifth 
Regiment  Armory  was  introduced  by  Ex-Governor 
Goldsborough  to  an  audience  of  fifteen  thousand  per- 
sons to  whom  he  addressed  the  speech  which  follows. 
In  clearness,  in  directness,  in  general  rhetorical  excel- 
lence, it  is  unsurpassed  by  any  other  address  called 
forth  by  the  war. 


ADDRESS    AT    BALTIMORE 

Woodrow  Wilson 

Fellow-citizens:  This  is  the  anniversary1  of  our 
acceptance  of  Germany's  challenge  to  fight  for  our  right 
to  live  and  be  free,  and  for  the  sacred  rights  of  freemen 
everywhere.  The  nation  is  awake.2  There  is  no  need 
to  call  to  it.  We  know  what  the  war  must  cost,  our 
utmost  sacrifice,  the  lives  of  our  fittest  men,  and,  if  need 
be,  all  that  we  possess. 

The  loan  we  are  met  to  discuss  is  one  of  the  least  parts 
of  what  we  are  called  upon  to  give  and  to  do,  though  in 
itself  imperative.  The  people  of  the  whole  country  are 
alive  to  the  necessity  of  it,  and  are  ready  to  lend  to  the 


282  WOODROW  WILSON 

utmost,3  even  where  it  involves  a  sharp  skimping  and 
daily  sacrifice  to  lend  out  of  meagre  earnings.  They  will 
look  with  reprobation  and  contempt  upon  those  who  can 
and  will  not,  upon  those  who  demand  a  higher  rate  of 
interest,  upon  those  who  think  of  it  as  a  mere  commercial 
transaction.  I  have  not  come,  therefore,  to  urge  the  loan. 
I  have  come  only  to  give  you,  if  I  can,  a  more  vivid  con- 
ception of  what  it  is  for. 

The  reasons  for  this  great  war,  the  reason  why  it  had 
to  come,  the  need  to  fight  it  through,  and  the  issues  that 
hang  upon  its  outcome,  are  more  clearly  disclosed  now 
than  ever  before.  It  is  easy  to  see  just  what  this  particu- 
lar loan  means,  because  the  cause  we  are  fighting  for 
stands  more  sharply  revealed  than  at  any  previous  crisis 
of  the  momentous  struggle.  The  man  who  knows  least  4 
can  now  see  plainly  how  the  cause  of  justice  stands,  and 
what  the  imperishable  thing  he  is  asked  to  invest  in.  Men 
in  America  may  be  more  sure  than  they  ever  were  before 
that  the  cause  is  their  own,  and  that,  if  it  should  be  lost, 
their  own  great  nation's  place  and  mission  in  the  world 
would  be  lost  with  it. 

I  call  you  to  witness,  my  fellow-countrymen,  that  at 
no  stage  of  this  terrible  business  have  I  judged  the  pur- 
poses of  Germany  intemperately.  I  should  be  ashamed 
in  the  presence  of  affairs  so  grave,  so  fraught  with  the 
destinies  of  mankind  throughout  all  the  world,  to  speak 
with  truculence,  to  use  the  weak  language  of  hatred  or 
vindictive  purpose.  We  must  judge  as  we  would  be 
judged.  I  have  sought  to  learn  the  objects  Germany  has 
in  this  war  from  the  mouths  of  her  own  spokesmen,  and 
to  deal  as  frankly  with  them  as  I  wished  them  to  deal 
with  me.  I  have  laid  bare  our  own  ideals,  our  own  pur- 
poses, without  reserve  or  doubtful  phrase,  and  have  asked 
them  to  say  as  plainly  what  it  is  that  they  seek. 

We  have  ourselves  proposed   no   injustice,   no   aggres- 


ADDRESS  AT  BALTIMORE  283 

sion.  We  are  ready,  whenever  the  final  reckoning  is 
made,  to  be  just  to  the  German  people,  deal  fairly  with 
the  German  power,  as  with  all  others.  There  can  be  no 
difference  between  peoples  in  the  final  judgment,  if  it  is 
indeed  to  be  a  righteous  judgment.  To  propose  anything 
but  justice,  even-handed  and  dispassionate  justice,  to  Ger- 
many at  any  time,  whatever  the  outcome  of  the  war, 
would  be  to  renounce  and  dishonor  our  own  cause,  for 
we  ask  nothing  that  we  are  not  willing  to  accord. 

It  has  been  with  this  thought  that  I  have  sought  to 
learn  from  those  who  spoke  for  Germany  whether  it  was 
justice  or  dominion  and  the  execution  of  their  own  will 
upon  the  other  nations  of  the  world  that  the  German 
leaders  were  seeking.  They  have  answered — answered  in 
unmistakable  terms.  They  have  avowed  that  it  was  not 
justice,  but  dominion  and  the  unhindered  execution  of 
their  own  will.  The  avowal  has  not  come  from  Ger- 
many's statesmen.  It  has  come  from  her  military  leaders, 
who  are  her  real  rulers.  Her  statesmen  have  said  that 
they  wished  peace,  and  were  ready  to  discuss  its  terms 
whenever  their  opponents  were  willing  to  sit  down  at  the 
conference  table  with  them.  Her  present  Chancellor  has 
said — in  indefinite  and  uncertain  terms,  indeed,  and  in 
phrases  that  often  seem  to  deny  their  own  meaning,  but 
with  as  much  plainness  as  he  thought  prudent — that  he 
believed  that  peace  should  be  based  upon  the  principles 
which  we  had  declared  would  be  our  own  in  the  final 
settlement?^ ^^ 

At  Brest-Litovsk  her  civilian  delegates  spoke  in  similar 
terms;  professed  their  desire  to  conclude  a  fair  peace  and 
accord  to  the  peoples  with  whose  fortunes  they  were  deal- 
ing the  right  to  choose  their  own  allegiances.  But  action 
accompanied  and  followed  profession.  Their  military 
masters,  the  men  who  act  for  Germany  and  exhibit  her 
purpose  in  execution,  proclaimed  a  very  different  conclu- 


284  WOODROW  WILSON 

sion.  We  can  not  mistake  what  they  have  done — in  Rus- 
sia, in  Finland,  in  the  Ukraine,  in  Rumania.  The  real 
test  of  their  justice  and  fair  play  has  come.  From  this  we 
may  judge  the  rest. 

They  are  enjoying  in  Russia  5  a  cheap  triumph  in  which 
no  brave  or  gallant  nation  can  long  take  pride.  A  great 
people,  helpless  by  their  own  act,  lies  for  the  time  at  their 
mercy.  Their  fair  professions  are  forgotten.  They  no- 
where set  up  justice,  but  everywhere  impose  their  power 
and  exploit  everything  for  their  own  use  and  aggrandize- 
ment, and  the  peoples  of  conquered  provinces  are  invited 
to  be  free  under  their  dominion ! 

Are  we  not  justified  in  believing  that  they  would  do 
the  same  things  at  their  western  front  if  they  were  not 
there  face  to  face  with  armies  whom  even  their  countless 
divisions  cannot  overcome?  If,  when  they  have  felt  their 
check  to  be  final,  they  should  propose  favorable  and  equit- 
able terms  with  regard  to  Belgium  and  France  and  Italy, 
could  they  blame  us  if  we  concluded  that  they  did  so  only 
to  assure  themselves  of  a  free  hand  in  Russia  and  the 
East? 

Their  purpose  is,  undoubtedly,  to  make  all  the  Slavic 
peoples,  all  the  free  and  ambitious  nations  of  the  Baltic 
Peninsula,  all  the  lands  that  Turkey  has  dominated  and 
misruled,  subject  to  their  will  and  ambition,  and  build 
upon  that  dominion  an  empire  of  force  upon  which  they 
fancy  that  they  can  then  erect  an  empire  of  gain  and  com- 
mercial supremacy — an  empire  as  hostile  to  trie  Americas 
as  to  the  Europe  which  it  will  overawe — an  empire  which 
will  ultimately  master  Persia,  India,  and  the  peoples  cf 
the  Far  East. 

In  such  a  program  our  ideals,  the  ideals  of  justice  and 
humanity  and  liberty,  the  principle  of  the  free  self- 
determination  of  nations,  upon  which  all  the  modern 
world  insists,  can  play  no  part.     They  are  rejected  for 


ADDRESS  AT  BALTIMORE  285 

the  ideals  of  power,  for  the  principle  that  the  strong  must 
rule  the  weak,  that  trade  must  follow  the  flag,  whether 
those  to  whom  it  is  taken  welcome  it  or  not,  that  the 
peoples  of  the  world  are  to  be  made  subject  to  the  patron- 
age and  overlordship  of  those  who  have  the  power  to 
enforce  it. 

That  program  once  carried  out,  America  and  all  who 
care  or  dare  to  stand  with  her  must  arm  and  prepare 
themselves  to  contest  the  mastery  of  the  world — a  mastery 
in  which  the  rights  of  common  men,  the  rights  of  women 
and  of  all  who  are  weak,  must  for  the  time  being  be 
trodden  under  foot  and  disregarded  and  the  old,  age- 
long struggle  for  freedom  and  right  begin  again  at  its 
beginning.  Everything  that  America  has  lived  for  and 
loved  and  grown  great  to  vindicate  and  bring  to  a  glo- 
rious realization  will  have  fallen  in  utter  ruin  and  the 
gates  of  mercy  once  more  pitilessly  shut  upon  mankind! 

The  thing  is  preposterous  and  impossible;  and  yet  is 
not  that  what  the  whole  course  and  action  of  the  German 
armies  has  meant  wherever  they  have  moved?  I  do  not 
wish,  even  in  this  moment  of  utter  disillusionment,  to 
judge  harshly  or  unrighteously.  I  judge  only  what  the 
German  arms  have  accomplished  with  unpitying  thorough- 
ness throughout  every  fair  region  they  have  touched. 

What,  then,  are  we  to  do?  For  myself,  I  am  ready, 
ready  still,  ready  even  now,  to  discuss  a  fair  and  just  and 
honest  peace  at  any  time  that  it  is  sincerely  purposed — a 
peace  in  which  the  strong  and  the  weak  shall  fare  alike. 
But  the  answer,  when  I  proposed  such  a  peace,  came  from 
the  German  commanders  in  Russia  and  I  cannot  mistake 
the  meaning  of  the  answer. 

I  accept  the  challenge.  I  know  that  you  accept  it.  All 
the  world  shall  know  that  you  accept  it.  It  shall  appear 
in  the  utter  sacrifice  and  self-forgetfulness  with  which  we 
shall  give  all  that  we  love  and  all  that  we  have  to  redeem 


286  WOODROW  WILSON 

the  world  and  make  it  fit  for  free  men  like  ourselves  to 
live  in.  This  now  is  the  meaning  of  all  that  we  do.  Let 
everything  that  we  say,  my  fellow-countrymen,  every- 
thing that  we  henceforth  plan  and  accomplish,  ring  true 
to  this  response  till  the  majesty  and  might  of  our  con- 
certed power  shall  fill  the  thought  and  utterly  defeat  the 
force  of  those  who  flout  and  misprize  what  we  honor  and 
hold  dear. 

Germany  has  once  more  said  that  force,  and  force  alone, 
shall  decide  whether  justice  and  peace  shall  reign  in  the 
affairs  of  men,  whether  right  as  America  conceives  it  or 
dominion  as  she  conceives  it  shall  determine  the  destinies 
of  mankind.  There  is,  therefore,  but  one  response  possible 
from  us:  Force,  force  to  the  utmost,6  force  without  stint 
or  limit,  the  righteous  and  triumphant  force  which  shall 
make  right  the  law  of  the  world  and  cast  every  selfish 
dominion  down  in  the  dust. 

How  were  the  Liberty  Loans  used? 

What  was  the  authority,  force,  or  power  that  organized 
America  and  gave  it  the  determination  and  the  unity  of  action 
that  we  see  reflected  in  President  Wilson's  Baltimore  address? 

How  did  American  women  help  to  win  the  war? 

What  characteristics  of  President  Wilson's  style  in  this  speech 
imply  a  sympathetic  and  responsive  audience? 

What  effect  do  you  suppose  was  produced  in  Germany  by 
this  address? 

Would  it  have  been  better  if  previous  to  1914  the  United 
States  had  maintained  in  accordance  with  President  Roosevelt's 
advice  a  greatly  enlarged  army  and  navy? 

In  what  respects  was  democracy  in  America  advanced  during 
the  Great  War? 


THE  LIMITATION  OF  ARMAMENT 

November  12,  1921 

The  allied  armies  of  liberty  and  democracy  under 
Marshal  Foch  applied  the  remedy  of  "  Force,  force  to 
the  utmost "  so  relentlessly  that  the  year  1918  saw  the 
collapse  of  militarism  and  autocracy.  On  September 
30  Bulgaria  surrendered.  A  month  later  Turkey  gave 
in  to  the  Allies,  and  on  November  4  Austria-Hungary 
joined  the  ranks  of  the  defeated.  Deserted  by  their 
fellow  conspirators,  defeated  at  the  front,  and  dis- 
turbed by  social  uprisings  within,  Germany  too  realized 
that  democracy  will  prevail.  On  November  9  the 
Kaiser  was  forced  to  abdicate  after  a  reign  of  thirty 
years  and  to  renounce  the  Imperial  throne  for  his  sons. 
Two  days  later,  the  eleventh  of  November,  1918,  the 
Allies  granted  Germany  an  armistice,  the  terms  of 
which  were  equivalent  to  complete  and  unconditional 
surrender. 

The  close  of  hostilities,  however,  did  not  formally 
end  the  war.  Not  until  three  years  later,  November 
18,  1921,  was  the  last  treaty  signed  and  peace  pro- 
claimed. The  slowness  of  the  United  States  in  of- 
ficially terminating  the  war  was  due  to  the  reluctance 
of  many  Americans  to  accept  the  treaty  of  Versailles. 
In  addition  to  specifying  the  acts  of  reparation  to  be 
made  by  Germany  and  the  conditions  of  peace,  this 
document  attempted  to  establish  a  League  of  Nations 
pledged  to  take  an  active  part — even  to  the  use  of 
military  force  if  necessary — in  the  settlement  of  world 
problems.     Various  interests  at  this  time  made  the 

287 


288     THE  LIMITATION  OF  ARMAMENT 

United  States  hesitate  to  take  such  a  pledge.  The  exi- 
gencies of  politics  and  the  American  tradition  of  keep- 
ing aloof  from  foreign  entanglements — despite  the  en- 
larged view  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  the  acquisition 
of  the  Philippines,  and  our  part  in  the  World  War — 
seemed  to  forbid  our  entering  into  a  military  alliance. 
Nevertheless  it  was  the  common  opinion  in  America 
that  something  in  addition  to  the  signing  of  routine 
treaties  must  be  done  by  the  United  States  to  lessen 
the  evils  of  war. 

In  recognition  of  this  feeling  President  Harding 
invited  the  governments  of  the  British  Empire,  France, 
Italy,  and  Japan  to  participate  in  a  conference  in 
Washington  to  discuss  limitation  of  armament.  The 
invitation  was  sent  out  August  11,  1921,  and  the  dele- 
gates were  asked  to  assemble  on  November  11,  the 
anniversary  of  the  armistice.  On  the  morning  of  No- 
vember 12  the  first  session  was  held  in  the  building  of 
the  National  Society  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution.  At  an  early  hour  the  streets  and  park- 
ways in  the  vicinity  were  crowded  with  thousands  of 
citizens  anxious  to  get  the  first  news  from  the  confer- 
ence or  eager  to  obtain  sight  of  distinguished  visitors. 
Soon  after  ten  o'clock  the  delegates  from  each  of  the 
five  principal  powers  with  assistants  and  military  ex- 
perts had  taken  their  seats ;  and  there  were  also  present 
representatives  of  nations  interested  in  minor  ques- 
tions that  were  to  be  considered  by  the  conference. 
The  galleries  were  filled  with  members  of  Congress, 
the  diplomatic  corps,  and  other  distinguished  persons. 

When  the  President  entered  by  a  rear  door  and 
passed  to  his  seat,  a  tribute  of  applause  marked  the 
beginning  of  the  conference.  A  moment  of  silence 
followed ;  and  while  visitors  and  delegates  awaited 
expectantly  the  first  opening  movement,  a  breeze  from 


THE  LLMITATION  OF  ARMAMENT    289 

a  lofty  window  gathered  the  flags  of  the  participating 
nations  and  drew  them  together  at  the  ceiling  in  a 
bond  of  impressive  symbolism.  When  the  chaplain's 
prayer  was  concluded,  Secretary  Hughes,  as  pro 
tempore  chairman,  announced  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

After  welcoming  the  delegates  President  Harding 
said  that  the  action  taken  by  the  conference  would  have 
an  influence  on  all  human  progress.  A  war-wearied 
world  was  demanding  assurances  of  lasting  peace. 
The  measureless  cost  of  conflict  and  the  burden  of 
armament  made  all  thoughtful  peoples  seek  to  have 
war  outlawed.  The  millions  who  pay  in  peace  and 
die  in  war  wish  their  statesmen  to  turn  the  cost  of 
destruction  into  means  for  construction.  "  The  United 
States,"  he  added,  "  welcomes  you  with  unselfish 
hands.  We  harbor  no  fears ;  we  have  no  sordid  ends 
to  serve;  we  suspect  no  enemy;  we  contemplate  nor 
apprehend  no  conquest.  Content  with  what  we  have, 
we  seek  nothing  which  is  another's.  We  only  wish  to 
do  with  you  that  finer,  nobler  thing  which  no  nation 
can  do  alone. " 

The  President's  speech  created  an  excellent  impres- 
sion. Every  nation  was  sick  of  war  and  every  nation 
was  hoping  that  some  means  could  be  found  for  set- 
tling differences  without  conflict.  The  President's 
address,  therefore,  was  exactly  adapted  to  the  occasion, 
although  it  contained  nothing  very  startling  or  new. 
Nor  was  there  anything  unusual  expected  from  Secre- 
tary Hughes.  The  delegates  were  settled  in  their  belief 
that  the  first  session  would  be  devoted  to  addresses  of 
welcome  and  the  expression  of  the  common  desire  for 
lasting  peace.  While  the  audience  was  thus  listening 
with  due  and  formal  decorum,  Secretary  Hughes  pre- 
sented, in  simple,  unemotional  language,  his  proposal 


29o     THE  LIMITATION  OF  ARMAMENT 

for  a  ten-year  naval  holiday  and  the  destruction  of 
capital  ships.  Instantly  looks  of  astonishment  flashed 
into  the  faces  of  the  delegates  and  a  burst  of  ap- 
plause swept  through  the  galleries.  The  conference  at 
Washington  was  destined  to  create  a  precedent  in  inter- 
national councils.  At  the  Hague  and  elsewhere  repre- 
sentatives of  powerful  nations  had  discussed  means 
for  alleviating  the  horrors  of  armed  conflicts,  but  no 
definite  and  practical  proposition  for  limiting  the  arma- 
ment necessary  for  carrying  on  war  had  ever  before 
been  presented  at  an  international  conference. 

The  sincerity  that  had  been  shown  by  President 
Harding  and  Secretary  Hughes  soon  infected  the  dele- 
gates. Nations  that  had  been  rivals  pledged  them- 
selves to  make  sacrifices  essential  to  the  carrying  out 
of  the  plan.  The  highest  hopes  were  everywhere  enter- 
tained for  the  success  of  the  conference.  Leaders  of 
thought  maintained  that  if  it  were  possible  to  limit 
armaments  through  international  agreement,  it  would 
be  possible  by  the  same  means  to  reduce  armaments 
little  by  little  until  they  were  completely  abolished.  If 
nations  could  be  induced  to  curtail  their  preparation 
for  war,  the  fear  of  war  would  gradually  disappear 
and  war  would  soon  become  unnecessary. 

The  time  at  which  Secretary  Hughes  delivered  this 
address  was  opportune  for  the  acceptance  of  his  views. 
The  world  still  staggered  under  its  burden  of  debt  and 
suffering.  In  no  country  was  there  prosperity  equal 
to  that  of  1914;  and  in  many  lands  disease,  famine, 
and  crime  prolonged  the  misery  of  the  conflict.  From 
its  seven  years  of  suffering  the  world  at  last  had 
learned  that  quarrels  cannot  be  settled  by  wrar.  War, 
whether  voluntary  or  involuntary,  merely  postpones 
settlement.  Settlement  can  come  only  through  the 
institutions  of  peace. 


THE  LIMITATION  OF  ARMAMENT    291 

LIMITATION  OF  ARMAMENT 

Charles  Evans  Hughes 

It  is  with  a  deep  sense  of  privilege  and  responsibility  that 
I  accept  the  honor  you  have  conferred. 

Permit  me  to  express  the  most  cordial  appreciation  of 
the  assurances  of  friendly  cooperation,  which  have  been 
generously  expressed  by  the  representatives  of  all  the 
invited  Governments.  The  earnest  desire  and  purpose, 
manifested  in  every  step  in  the  approach  to  this  meeting, 
that  we  should  meet  the  reasonable  expectation  of  a 
watching  world  by  effective  action  suited  to  the  oppor- 
tunity, is  the  best  augury  for  the  success  of  the  con- 
ference. 

The  President  invited  the  Governments  of  the  British 
Empire,  France,  Italy,  and  Japan  to  participate  in  a  con- 
ference on  the  subject  of  limitation  of  armament,  in  con- 
nection with  which  Pacific  and  Far  Eastern  questions 
also  would  be  discussed.  It  would  have  been  most  agree- 
able to  the  President  to  have  invited  all  the  powers  to 
take  part  in  this  conference,  but  it  was  thought  to  be  a 
time  when  other  considerations  should  yield  to  the  prac- 
tical requirements  of  the  existing  exigency,  and  in  this 
view  the  invitation  was  extended  to  the  group  known  as 
the  principal  allied  and  associated  powers,  which,  by 
reason  of  the  conditions  produced  by  the  war,  control  in 
the  main  the  armament  of  the  world.  The  opportunity 
to  limit  armament  lies  within  their  grasp. 

It  was  recognized,  however,  that  the  interests  of  other 
powers  in  the  Far  East  made  it  appropriate  that  they 
should  be  invited  to  participate  in  the  discussion  of  Pacific 
and  Far  Eastern  problems,  and,  with  the  approval  of  the 
five  powers,  an  invitation  to  take  part  in  the  discussion 


292  CHARLES  EVANS  HUGHES 

of  those  questions  has  been  extended  to  Belgium,  China, 
The  Netherlands  and  Portugal. 

The  inclusion  of  the  proposal  for  the  discussion  of 
Pacific  and  Far  Eastern  questions  was  not  for  the  pur- 
pose of  embarrassing  or  delaying  an  agreement  for  lim- 
itation of  armament,  but  rather  to  support  that  under- 
taking by  availing  ourselves  of  this  meeting  to  endeavor 
to  reach  a  common  understanding  as  to  the  principles 
and  policies  to  be  followed  in  the  Far  East  and  thus 
greatly  to  diminish  and,  if  possible,  wholly  to  remove,1 
discernible  sources  of  controversy.  It  is  believed  that  by 
interchanges  of  views  at  this  opportune  time  the  Govern- 
ments represented  here  may  find  a  basis  of  accord  and 
thus  give  expression  to  their  desire  to  assure  enduring 
friendship. 

In  the  public  discussions  which  have  preceded  the  con- 
ference, there  have  been  apparently  two  competing  views; 
one,  that  the  consideration  of  armament  should  await  the 
result  of  the  discussion  of  Far  Eastern  questions,  and, 
another,  that  the  latter  discussion  should  be  postponed 
until  an  agreement  for  limitation  of  armament  has  been 
reached.  I  am  unable  to  find  sufficient  reason  for  adopt- 
ing either  of  these  extreme  views.  I  think  that  it  would 
be  most  unfortunate  if  we  should  disappoint  the  hopes 
which  have  attached  to  this  meeting  by  a  postponement 
of  the  consideration  of  the  first  subject. 

The  world  looks  to  this  conference  to  relieve  humanity 
of  the  crushing  burden  created  by  competition  in  arma- 
ment, and  it  is  the  view  of  the  American  Government 
that  we  should  meet  that  expectation  without  any  un- 
necessary delay.  It  is  therefore  proposed  that  the  con- 
ference should  proceed  at  once  to  consider  the  question 
of  the  limitation  of   armament. 

This,  however,  does  not  mean  that  we  must  postpone 
the  examination  of  2  the  Far  Eastern  questions.     These 


THE  LIMITATION  OF  ARMAMENT    293 

questions  of  vast  importance  press  for  solution.  It  is 
hoped  that  immediate  provision  may  be  made  to  deal 
with  them  adequately,  and  it  is  suggested  that  it  may 
be  found  to  be  entirely  practicable  through  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  work  among  designated  committees  to  make 
progress  to  the  ends  sought  to  be  achieved  without  either 
subject  being  treated  as  a  hindrance  to  the  proper  con- 
sideration and  disposition  of  the  other. 

The  proposal  to  limit  armament  by  agreement  of  the 
powers  is  not  a  new  one,  and  we  are  admonished  by  the 
futility  of  earlier  effort.  It  may  be  well  to  recall  the 
noble  aspirations  which  were  voiced  twenty-three  years 
ago  in  the  imperial  rescript  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor 
of  Russia.  It  was  then  pointed  out  with  clarity  and  em- 
phasis that  the  intellectual  and  physical  strength  of  the 
nations,  labor  and  capital  are  for  the  major  part  diverted 
from  their  natural  application  and  unproductively  con- 
sumed. Hundreds  of  millions  are  devoted  to  acquiring 
terrible  engines  of  destruction,  which,  though  to-day 
regarded  as  the  last  word  of  science,  are  destined  to- 
morrow to  lose  all  value  in  consequence  of  some  fresh 
discovery  in  the  same  field.  National  culture,  economic 
progress  and  the  production  of  wealth  are  either  paralyzed 
or  checked  in  their  development. 

Moreover,  in  proportion  as  the  armaments  of  each 
power  increase,  so  do  they  less  and  less  fulfill  the  object 
which  the  Governments  have  set  before  themselves.  The 
economic  crises,  due  in  great  part  to  the  system  of  arma- 
ments a  Voutrance  and  the  continual  danger  which  lies 
in  this  massing  of  war  material,  are  transforming  the 
armed  peace  of  our  days  in  a  crushing  burden,  which  the 
peoples  have  more  and  more  difficulty  in  bearing.  It  ap- 
pears evident,  then,  that  if  this  state  of  things  were  pro- 
longed it  would  inevitably  lead  to  the  calamity  which  it 
is  desired  to  avert,  and  the  horrors  of  which  make  every 


294  <  CHARLES  EVANS  HUGHES 

thinking  man  shudder  in  advance.  To  put  an  end  to  these 
incessant  armaments  and  to  seek  the  means  of  warding 
off  the  calamities  which  are  threatening  the  whole  world 
— such  is  the  supreme  duty  which  is  to-day  imposed  on 
all  States. 

It  was  with  this  sense  of  obligation  that  his  Majesty 
the  Emperor  of  Russia  proposed  the  conference  which 
was  "  to  occupy  itself  with  this  grave  problem,"  and 
which  met  at  The  Hague  in  the  year  1899. 

Important  as  were  the  deliberations  and  conclusions  of 
that  conference,  especially  with  respect  to  the  pacific  set- 
tlement of  international  disputes,  its  result  in  the  specific 
matter  of  limitation  of  armament  went  no  further  than 
the  adoption  of  a  final  resolution  setting  forth  the  opinion 
that  the  restriction  of  military  charges  which  are  at 
present  a  heavy  burden  on  the  world,  is  extremely  desira- 
ble for  the  increase  of  the  material  and  moral  welfare 
of  mankind,  and  the  utterance  of  the  wish  that  the  Gov- 
ernments may  examine  the  possibility  of  an  agreement  as 
to  the  limitation  of  armed  forces  by  land  and  sea,  and 
of  war  budgets. 

It  was  seven  years  later  that  the  Secretary  of  State  of 
the  United  States,  Mr.  Elihu  Root,  in  answering  a  note 
of  the  Russian  Ambassador  suggesting  in  outline  a  pro- 
gram of  the  second  peace  conference,  said : 

"  The  Government  of  the  United  States,  therefore, 
feels  it  to  be  its  duty  to  reserve  for  itself  the  liberty  to 
propose  to  the  second  peace  conference,  as  one  of  the  sub- 
jects for  consideration,  the  reduction  or  limitation  of 
armaments,  in  the  hope  that,  if  nothing  further  can  be 
accomplished,  some  slight  advance  may  be  made  toward 
the  realization  of  the  lofty  conception  which  actuated 
the  Emperor  of  Russia  in  calling  the  first  conference." 

It  is  significant  that  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment expressed  itself  as  "  absolutely  opposed  to  the  ques- 


THE  LIMITATION  OF  ARMAMENT    295 

tion  of  disarmament,"  and  that  the  Emperor  of  Germany 
threatened  to  decline  to  send  delegates  if  the  subject  of 
disarmament  was  to  be  discussed.  In  view,  however,  of 
the  resolution  which  had  been  adopted  at  the  first  Hague 
conference,  the  delegates  of  the  United  States  were  in- 
structed that  the  subject  of  limitation  of  armament 
should  be  regarded  as  unfinished  business,  and  that  the 
second  conference  should  ascertain  and  give  full  consid- 
eration to  the  result  of  such  examination  as  the  Govern- 
ments may  have  given  to  the  possibility  of  an  agreement 
pursuant  to  the  wish  expressed  by  the  first  conference. 

But  by  reason  of  the  obstacles  which  the  subject  had 
encountered,  the  second  peace  conference  at  The  Hague, 
although  it  made  notable  progress  in  provision  for  the 
peaceful  settlement  of  controversies,  was  unable  to  deal 
with  limitation  of  armament  except  by  a  resolution  in 
the  following  general  terms: 

"  The  conference  confirms  the  resolution  adopted  by 
the  conference  of  1899  in  regard  to  the  limitation  of 
military  expenditure;  and,  inasmuch  as  military  expendi- 
ture has  considerably  increased  in  almost  every  country 
since  that  time,  the  conference  declares  that  it  is  emi- 
nently desirable  that  the  Governments  should  resume  the 
serious  examination  of  this  question." 

This  was  the  fruition  of  the  efforts  of  eight  years. 
Although  the  effect  was  clearly  perceived,  the  race  in 
preparation  of  armaments,  wholly  unaffected  by  these 
futile  suggestions,  went  on  until  it  fittingly  culminated 
in  the  greatest  war  of  history,  and  we  are  now  suffering 
from  the  unparalleled  loss  of  life,  the  destruction  of 
hopes,  the  economic  dislocations,  and  the  widespread  im- 
poverishment which  measure  3  the  cost  of  the  victory  over 
the  brutal  pretensions  of  military  force. 

But  if  we  are  warned  by  the  inadequacy  of  earlier 
endeavors  for  limitation  of  armament,  we  cannot  fail  to 


296  CHARLES  EVANS  HUGHES 

recognize   the   extraordinary  opportunity   now   presented. 

We  not  only  have  the  lessons  of  the  past  to  guide  us, 
not  only  do  we  have  the  reaction  from  the  disillusioning 
experiences  of  war,  but  we  must  meet  the  challenge  of 
imperative  economic  demands.  What  was  convenient  or 
highly  desirable  before  is  now  4  a  matter  of  vital  necessity. 
If  there  is  to  be  economic  rehabilitation,  ii  the  longings 
for  reasonable  progress  are  not  to  be  denied,  if  we  are  to 
be  spared  the  uprisings  of  peoples  made  desperate  in  the 
desire  to  shake  off  burdens  no  longer  endurable,  com- 
petition in  armament  must  stop.  The  present  oppor- 
tunity not  only  derives  its  advantage  from  a  general  ap- 
preciation of  this  fact,  but  the  power  to  deal  with  the 
exigency  now  rests  with  a  small  group  of  nations  repre- 
sented here,  who  have  every  reason  to  desire  peace  and 
to  promote  amity. 

The  astonishing  ambition  which  lay  athwart  the  prom- 
ise of  the  second  Hague  conference  no  longer  menaces 
the  world,  and  the  great  opportunity  of  liberty-loving 
and  peace-preserving  democracies  has  come.  Is  it  not 
plain  that  the  time  has  passed  for  mere  resolutions  that 
the  responsible  powers  should  examine  the  question  of 
limitation  of  armament?  We  can  no  longer  content  our- 
selves with  investigations,  with  statistics,  with  reports, 
with  the  circumlocution  of  inquiry.  The  essential  facts 
are  sufficiently  known.  The  time  is  come,  and  this  con- 
ference has  been  called  not  for  general  resolutions  or 
mutual  advice,  but  for  action. 

We  meet  with  full  understanding  that  the  aspirations 
of  mankind  are  not  to  be  defeated  either  by  plausible 
suggestions  of  postponement  or  by  impracticable  counsels 
of  perfection.  Power  and  responsibility  are  here,  and  the 
world  awaits  a  practicable  program  which  shall  at  once 
be  put  into  execution. 

I    am   confident   that   I   shall   have   your   approval   in 


THE  LIMITATION  OF  ARMAMENT    297 

suggesting  that  in  this  matter,  as  well  as  in  others  before 
the  conference,  it  is  desirable  to  follow  the  course  of 
procedure  which  has  the  best  promise  of  achievement 
rather  than  one  which  would  facilitate  division,  and  thus, 
constantly  aiming  to  agree  so  far  as  possible,  we  shall, 
with  each  point  of  agreement,  make  it  easier  to  proceed 
to  others. 

The  question  in  relation  to  armaments  which  may  be 
regarded  as  of  primary  importance  at  this  time  and  with 
which  we  can  deal  most  promptly  and  effectively  is  the 
limitation  of  naval  armament.  There  are  certain  general 
considerations  which  may  be  deemed  pertinent  to  this 
subject. 

The  first  is  that  the  core  of  the  difficulty  is  to  be 
found  in  the  competition  in  naval  programs,  and  that,  in 
order  appropriately  to  limit  naval  armament,  competition 
in  its  production  must  be  abandoned.  Competition  will 
not  be  remedied  by  resolves  with  respect  to  the  method 
of  its  continuance.  One  program  inevitably  leads  to  an- 
other, and,  if  competition  continues,  its  regulation  is 
impracticable.  There  is  only  one  adequate  way  out,  and 
that  is  to  end  it  now. 

It  is  apparent  that  this  cannot  be  accomplished  with- 
out serious  sacrifices.  Enormous  sums  have  been  ex- 
pended upon  ships  under  construction,  and  building  pro- 
grams which  are  now  under  way  cannot  be  given  up 
without  heavy  loss.  Yet  if  the  present  construction  of 
capital  ships  goes  forward,  other  ships  will  inevitably  be 
built  to  rival  them,  and  this  will  lead  to  still  others. 
Thus  the  race  will  continue,  so  long  as  ability  to  con- 
tinue lasts.  The  effort  to  escape  sacrifices  is  futile.  We 
must  face  them  or  yield  our  purpose. 

It  is  also  clear  that  no  one  of  the  naval  powers  should 
be  expected  to  make  the  sacrifices  alone.  The  only  hope 
of  limitation  of  naval  armament  is  by  agreement  among 


298  CHARLES  EVANS  HUGHES 

the  nations  concerned,  and  this  agreement  should  be  en- 
tirely fair  and  reasonable  in  the  extent  of  the  sacrifices 
required  of  each  of  the  powers.  In  considering  the  basis 
of  such  agreement  and  the  commensurate  sacrifices  to  be 
required  it  is  necessary  to  have  regard  to  the  existing 
naval  strength  of  the  great  naval  powers,  including  the 
extent  of  construction  already  effected  in  the  case  of 
ships  in  process.  This  follows  from  the  fact  that  one 
nation  is  as  free  to  compete  as  another,  and  each  may 
find  grounds  for  its  action. 

What  one  may  do  another  may  demand  the  oppor- 
tunity to  rival,  and  we  remain  in  the  thrall  of  competitive 
effort. 

I  may  add  that  the  American  delegates  are  advised  by 
their  naval  experts  that  the  tonnage  of  capital  ships  may 
fairly  be  taken  to  measure  the  relative  strength  of  navies, 
as  the  provision  for  auxiliary  combatant  craft  should 
sustain  a  reasonable  relation  to  the  capital  ship  tonnage 
allowed. 

It  would  also  seem  to  be  a  vital  part  of  a  plan  for  the 
limitation  of  naval  armament  that  there  should  be  a  naval 
holiday.  It  is  proposed  that  for  a  period  of  not  less  than 
ten  years  there  should  be  no  further  construction  of 
capital  ships. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  am  at  liberty  to  go  beyond 
these  general  propositions,  and,  on  behalf  of  the  American 
delegation  acting  under  the  instructions  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  to  submit  to  you  a  concrete  proposi- 
tion for  an  agreement  for  the  limitation  of  naval  arma- 
ment. 

It  should  be  added  that  this  proposal  immediately  con- 
cerns the  British  Empire,  Japan  and  the  United  States. 
In  view  of  the  extraordinary  conditions,  due  to  the  World 
War,  affecting  the  existing  strength  of  the  navies  of 
France  and   Italy,   it  is  not  thought  to  be   necessary   to 


THE  LIMITATION  OF  ARMAMENT    299 

discuss  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  the  tonnage  allow- 
ance of  these  nations,  but  the  United  States  proposes  that 
this  matter  be  reserved  for  the  later  consideration  of  the 
conference. 

In  making  the  present  proposal  the  United  States  is 
most  solicitous  to  deal  with  the  question  upon  an  entirely 
reasonable  and  practicable  basis  to  the  end  that  the  just 
interests  of  all  shall  be  adequately  guarded,  and  the  na- 
tional security  and  defense  shall  be  maintained.  Four 
general  principles  have  been  applied : 

1  That  all  capital  shipbuilding  programs,  either 
actual  or  projected,  should  be  abandoned. 

2  That  further  reduction  should  be  made  through 
the  scrapping  of  certain  of  the  older  ships. 

3  That  in  general  regard  should  be  had  to  the  exist- 
ing naval  strength  of  the  powers  concerned. 

4  That  the  capital  ship  tonnage  should  be  used  as  the 
measurement  of  strength  for  navies,  and  a  proportionate 
allowance  of  auxiliary  combatant  craft  prescribed. 

With 5  the  acceptance  of  this  plan,  the  burden  of 
meeting  the  demands  of  competition  in  naval  armament 
will  be  lifted.  Enormous  sums  will  be  released  to  aid 
the  progress  of  civilization.  At  the  same  time  the  proper 
demands  of  national  defense  will  be  adequately  met,  and 
the  nations  will  have  ample  opportunity  during  the  naval 
holiday  of  ten  years  to  consider  their  future  course. 
Preparation  for  future  naval  war  shall  stop  now.  I  shall 
not  attempt  at  this  time  to  take  up  the  other  topics  which 
have  been  listed  on  the  tentative  agenda  proposed  in 
anticipation  of  the  conference. 

Why  is  it  more  feasible  to  limit  naval  armament  than  land 
armament? 

If  the  Hughes  plan  for  scrapping  a  billion  dollars'  worth  of 
ships  is  carried  out,  what  do  you  think  will  be  the  economic 
results? 


3oo  CHARLES  EVANS  HUGHES 

In  what  ways  will  a  decrease  of  armament  lessen  the 
probability  of  war? 

Point  out  one  or  more  instances  in  this  speech  where  Secre- 
tary Hughes  shrewdly  anticipated  difficulties  and  attempted  to 
circumvent  them. 

Compare  the  oratorical  style  of  this  speech  with  that  of  the 
Farewell  Address.  How  far  is  the  difference  in  style  indicative 
of  a  difference  in  social  conditions? 


As  we  scan  the  pages  of  history  we  trace  in  the 
words  of  the  great  thinkers  and  speakers  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  principles  of  liberty  and  democracy  that 
have  helped  to  make  the  world  equitable  and  safe  for 
us.  We  read  the  words  of  Burke,  of  Lincoln,  and  of 
Wilson,  and  realize  how  great  men  in  days  that  are 
gone  met  the  crises  that  confronted  them  and  won  the 
priceless  heritage  that  is  ours.  But  the  fight  for  lib- 
erty and  democracy  was  not  finished  by  the  great 
statesmen  who  have  gone  before  us,  nor  was  it  ended 
with  the  Great  War,  nor  will  it  terminate  with  the 
making  of  a  League  of  Nations.  It  can  never  end 
while  there  is  a  human  race.  As  long  as  there  are 
hearts  to  beat  and  souls  to  aspire,  men  will  seek  to 
brighten  the  flame  of  liberty. 

If  we  may  judge  the  future  by  the  past,  Americans 
can  look  forward  with  confidence  to  an  ever-brighten- 
ing day.    As  President  McKinley  once  said : 

"  Thus  far  we  have  done  our  supreme  duty.  Shall 
we  now,  when  the  victory  won  in  war  is  to  be  written 
in  the  treaty  of  peace  and  the  civilized  world  applauds 
and  awaits  in  expectation,  turn  timidly  away  from  the 
duties  imposed  upon  the  country  by  its  own  great 
deeds?  And  when  the  mists  fade  and  we  see  with 
clearer  vision,  may  we  not  go  forth  rejoicing  in  a 
strength  which  has  been  employed  solely  for  humanity 
and  always  been  tempered  with  justice  and  mercy, 
confident  of  our  ability  to  meet  the  exigencies  that 
await,  because  confident  that  our  course  is  one  of  duty 
and  our  cause  that  of  right?  " 

301 


LIVES  AND  NOTES 

JAMES    OTIS 

James  Otis  was  born  in  Barnstable,  Massachusetts,  February 
5,  1725.  In  1743  he  was  graduated  from  Harvard.  He  soon 
became  a  distinguished  lawyer.  In  February,  1761,  as  a  result 
of  his  famous  speech  on  the  Writs  of  Assistance,  he  was  elected 
to  the  Colonial  Assembly.  In  1765  he  was  a  delegate  for 
Massachusetts  to  the  Colonial  Congress.  Four  years  later  his 
active  life  was  ended  by  a  ruffianly  attack  received  in  a 
darkened  room  in  a  coffee  house  from  a  number  of  men  whose 
anger  he  had  stirred  through  a  controversy  in  the  newspapers. 
He  never  recovered  from  the  effects  of  this  brutal  assault  and 
was  thereafter  subject  to  recurring  periods  of  insanity.  On 
May  23,  1783,  he  was  killed  by  a  stroke  of  lightning. 

Writs  of  Assistance 

The  text  is  taken  from  William  Tudor's  Life  of  James  Otis, 
Boston,  1823. 

1  The  whole  range  of  argument.  The  speech  as  originally 
delivered  was  a  learned  and  exhaustive  legal  argument  that 
occupied  four  or  five  hours.  The  brief  section  given  here  was 
recorded  by  John  Adams,  who  was  present,  and  is  all  that 
remains. 

2  /  engaged  in  it  from  principle.  Note  the  persuasive  influ- 
ence of  his  manly  and  conscientious  attitude. 

3  One  king  his  head.     Charles  I  had  been  executed  after  trial 
"by  the  Rump  Parliament  in  1649.     As  a  result  of  the  "Peaceful 

Revolution   of    1688"   James    II    had   been    forced    to   flee,    and 
William  of  Orange  was  invited  to  become  king. 

4  Curse  of  Canaan.  See  Genesis  9:25.  The  curse  was  visited 
upon  Canaan  by  Noah  because  of  Canaan's  father's  sin. 

5  i^th  Charles  II  refers  to  a  law  made  in  the  fourteenth  year 
of  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 

6  Tumult  and  blood.  Is  the  last  part  of  Otis's  speech  an 
exaggeration? 

302 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  303 


WILLIAM  PITT,  EARL  OF  CHATHAM 

William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham,  was  born  at  Westminster 
in  1708.  He  was  educated  at  Eton,  and  at  Trinity  College, 
Oxford.  At  both  schools  he  gave  much  attention  to  rhetoric 
and  elocution.  On  account  of  ill  health  he  was  not  graduated 
from  Oxford,  but  after  leaving  the  university  continued  his 
studies.  His  favorite  pastime  was  to  translate  and  read  aloud 
the  works  of  Demosthenes,  his  model.  In  addition  to  this,  he 
s.udied  the  sermons  of  Dr.  Barrow,  and  memorized  Bailey's 
Dictionary.  With  this  preparation  in  rhetoric  he  coupled  ardu- 
ous study  of  voice  and  gesture.  To  a  tall,  imposing — almost 
princely — bearing,  Chatham  added  every  kind  of  power  known 
to  orators.  Ridicule  and  taunt  vied  with  pathos  and  exultation 
as  he  moved  his  hearers  to  enthusiasm.  His  language  at  all 
times  was  simple  and  free  from  figures  of  speech.  He  followed 
intuition  rather  than  reason.  His  speeches  naturally  were  not 
set  pieces,  for  he  depended  on  the  occasion  for  his  choice  of 
words. 

To  this  unusual  ability  in  rhetoric  and  a  magnetic  personal 
bearing,  Chatham  added  unquestionable  sincerity  and  a  deep 
sense  of  national  honor  and  dignity.  His  passion  for  liberty 
made  him  the  friend  of  the  American  people.  "  I  rejoice,"  he 
said,  "  that  America  has  resisted.  Three  millions  of  people  so 
dead  to  all  the  feelings  of  liberty  as  voluntarily  to  let  them- 
selves be  made  slaves  would  have  been  fit  instruments  to  make 
slaves  of  all  the  rest.  If  I  were  an  American,  as  I  am  an 
Englishman,  while  a  foreign  troop  was  landed  in  my  country, 
I  never  would  lay  down  my  arms — never — never — never!  " 

While  Chatham  was  in  power,  Walpole  and  the  other  min- 
isters were  forced  to  take  second  place.  The  jealousy  of  his 
opponents  and  the  autocracy  of  his  manner,  nevertheless,  did 
not  diminish  his  popularity.  When  he  died,  May  n,  1778, 
liberty   and   democracy   lost  one  of   their   staunchest   advocates. 

American  Taxation 

The  text  is  slightly  abridged  from  The  World's  Famous  Ora- 
tions, vol.    Ill,    p.    197,    New   York,    1906. 

1  /  could  have  endured  to  be  carried.  In  what  ways  does 
the  use  of  this  expression  help  Chatham  to  get  a  hearing? 

2  His  majesty  recommends.  Compare  this  reference  to  the 
King  with  that  of  Otis. 


304  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

3  The  importance  of  the  subject.  Burke  said  of  the  American 
question,  "  Surely  it  is  an  awful  subject  or  there  is  none  this 
side  the  grave."  The  vision  of  these  two  statesmen  is  as 
remarkable  as  the  shortsightedness  of  the  King  and  most  of 
his  ministers.  Had  America  been  granted  full  participation  in 
the  English  Constitution  and  even  representation  in  Parliament, 
England,  through  the  precedent,  would  have  become  the  center 
of  a  great  world  empire;  there  would  have  been  no  Irish  ques- 
tion, and  instead  of  being  joined  as  now  by  an  uncertain  and 
intangible  bond,  the  British  colonies  would  have  become  organic 
members  of  a  vast  but  unified  nation. 

4  The  distinction  between  legislation  and  taxation.  This  was 
the  British  view  and  was  maintained  also  by  Burke.  The 
Americans,  however,  prior  to  the  declaration  of  independence 
had  denied  the  distinction  and  had  passed  from  "  No  taxation 
without  representation"  to  "No  legislation  without  representa- 
tion." 

5  Virtual  representation  should  be  recognized  as  a  step  toward 
democracy.  It  at  least  acknowledged  the  right  of  representa- 
tion. 

GI  am  no  courtier  of  America.  Chatham's  career  as  states- 
man illustrates  the  ultimate  correctness  and  worth  of  a  policy 
based   on  justice   and   right. 

7  The  whole  house  of  Bourbon.  Kings  descended  from  the 
Bourbon  family  ruled  at  this  time  in  France,  Spain,  and  Naples. 

JOHN  WILKES 

John  Wilkes  was  born  in  London  in  1727.  He  came  from  a 
wealthy  family  and  received  a  good  education  at  the  University 
of  Leyden.  He  was  elected  to  Parliament  in  1757.  In  1762, 
when  Lord  Bute  forced  Pitt  from  office,  Wilkes  published  The 
North  Briton  in  order  to  aid  IJitt.  No.  45  of  this  paper  in 
which  he  maligned  the  government  was  adjudged  a  seditious 
libel  and  Wilkes  was  sent  to  jail.  On  appeal  to  the  courts, 
however,  he  was  awarded  $20,000  damages  for  illegal  im- 
prisonment. In  1769  he  was  elected  four  times  in  succession 
to  sit  in  Parliament  for  Middlesex,  but  the  House  of  Commons 
each  time  refused  to  accept  him  and  seated  his  opponent  who 
had  received  fewer  votes.  He  became  a  popular  hero  and 
would  have  gained  the  support  of  the  entire  country  but  for  his 
bad  personal  character.  In  1774  he  was  elected  Lord  Mayor 
of   London.      He   represented    Middlesex    in    Parliament    from 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  305 

1774  to   1790   and   became   the   champion   of   the    right   of   free 
representation  by  British  constituencies.     He  died   in   1797. 

War    with   America 

For  the  complete  text  see  Speeches  of  Mr.  Wilkes  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  Third  ed.,  p.  7.  Preface  dated  London, 
December   9,   1786. 

1  Some  very  powerful  cause.  This  statement  finds  a  point 
of  agreement  with  the  audience  and  arouses  their  interest  in 
wha'  is  to  come. 

2  Carry  to  the  foot  of  the  throne.  The  House  of  Commons, 
assembled  as  a  committee  of  the  whole,  was  considering  an 
address  to  the  King  upon  the  disturbances  in  America.  The 
language  and  spirit  of  the  resolution  was  such  that  it  virtually 
proposed  a  policy  of  war. 

3  /  well  know  what  will  follow.  Only  those  who  are  familiar 
with  the  state  of  public  opinion  in  the  colonies  in  February, 
1775,  can  appreciate  how  remarkable  is  this  prophecy  and  its 
fulfillment.  The  Americans  at  this  time  sought  merely  to  use 
whatever  means  were  necessary  to  secure  their  rights  as  English- 
men under  the  English  Constitution.  Although,  no  doubt,  there 
were  in  America  as  in  every  country  discontented  individuals 
who  sought  revolution  as  the  remedy  for  all  political  evils, 
there  was  when  Wilkes  spoke  no  general  demand  in  the  colonies 
for  independence.  John  Jay  said  that  previous  to  the  rejection 
of  the  second  petition  of  Congress  in  1775  he  '  never  heard  an 
American  of  any  class  or  any  description  express  a  wish  for  the 
independence  of  the  colonies.' 

Even  after  the  battles  of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill  in  the 
Dickinson  declaration,  published  by  George  Washington  when 
he  took  command  of  the  American  troops,  it  is  said,  "  We  most 
solemnly,  before  God  and  the  world,  declare,  that,  exerting 
the  utmost  energy  of  those  powers  which  our  beneficent  Creator 
has  graciously  bestowed  upon  us,  the  arms  which  we  have  been 
compelled  by  our  enemies  to  assume,  we  will,  in  defiance  of 
every  hazard,  with  unabating  firmness  and  perseverence  employ 
for  the  preservation  of  our  liberties;  being  with  one  mind 
resolved  to  die  freemen  than  to  live  slaves. 

"  Lest  this  declaration  should  disquiet  the  minds  of  our  friends 
and  fellow-subjects  in  any  part  of  the  empire,  we  assure  them 
that  we  mean  not  to  dissolve  that  union  which  has  so  long  and 
so  happily  subsisted  between  us,  and  which  we  sincerely  wish 


306  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

to  see  restored.  Necessity  has  not  yet  driven  us  into  that  des- 
perate measure,  or  induced  us  to  incite  any  other  nation  to  war 
against  them.  We  have  not  raised  armies  with  ambitious 
designs  of  separating  from  Great  Britain,  and  establishing 
independent   states." 

The  demand  for  independence  that  was  prevalent  throughout 
the  colonies  a  few  months  later  was  the  outgrowth  of  military 
necessity.  After  Arnold's  disastrous  expedition  into  Canada  it 
seemed  impossible  that  the  poorly  organized  American  troops 
could  cope  with  the  armies  of  Great  Britain  without  foreign 
help.  Although  the  great  body  of  Englishmen  sympathized 
with  the  colonists  in  their  struggle  for  liberty,  Parliament  and 
the  King  seemed  bent  on  destroying  America.  The  government 
finding  it  difficult  to  induce  Britons  to  fight  their  kin  across  the 
sea,  hired  seventeen  thousand  Hessians  to  prosecute  the  war. 
The  use  of  mercenary  soldiers,  of  whom  an  indefinite  number 
could  be  secured,  convinced  the  colonists  that  they  never  could 
succeed  in  arms  except  through  an  alliance  with  foreign 
powers,  which  necessitated  separation  from  the  empire.  The 
eyes  of  the  American  patriots,  therefore,  turned  in  1776  more  or 
less  reluctantly  to  France,  and  Silas  Deane  was  sent  as  am- 
bassador to  Paris. 

On  June  7  1776,  Richard  Lee  of  Virginia  introduced  into 
the   Continental   Congress  the   following  resolution: 

"  Resolved,  that  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  free  and  independent  states;  that  they  are  absolved  from 
all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown;  and  that  all  political  con- 
nection between  them  and  the  state  of  Great  Britain  is,  and 
of  right  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved."  On  July  4,  1776,  the 
resolution  was  incorporated  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  was  passed. 

Wilkes,  on  February  6,  1775,  was  led  to  make  his  remarkable 
prophecy,  not  through  any  rumor  that  the  colonists  would  seek 
independence,  but  merely  through  his  knowledge  of  the  temper 
of  the  King  and  his  ministers,  and  his  belief  in  the  determina- 
tion and  earnestness  of  the  American  people,  and  his  faith  in 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  principles  of  universal  liberty  that 
were  involved. 

4  The  blue  riband.  Lord  North,  the  prime  minister,  was  a 
Knight  of  the  Garter.  The  badge  of  the.  order  was  a  blue 
ribbon. 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  307 


EDMUND  BURKE 

Edmund  Burke  was  born  in  Ireland,  January  12,  1729.  In 
1748  he  was  graduated  from  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  two 
years  later  took  up  the  study  of  law  at  the  Temple,  London. 
For  six  years  little  was  heard  of  him,  and  then  he  published  a 
Vindication  of  Natural  Society,  and  a  Philosophical  Inquiry 
into  the  Origin  of  our  Ideas  of  the  Sublime  and  the  Beautiful. 
As  a  result  of  the  fame  these  essays  brought  him  he  became 
a  member  of  Johnson's  famous  literary  club.  He  was  also  en- 
gaged to  prepare  a  survey  of  important  events  for  the  Annual 
Register.  For  thirty  years  he  edited  this  annual  chronicle,  and 
it  is  largely  through  the  information  thus  gained  that  he  was 
able  to  speak  authoritatively  in  Parliament. 

In  1761,  he  became  aLVtstant-secretary  to  the  lord  lieutenant 
of  Ireland.  Rather  than  become  a  political  vassal,  he  resigned 
in  1765,  but  his  generally  recognized  ability  soon  won  him  an 
appointment  with  Lord  Rockingham,  the  prime  minister.  In 
1766  he  was  elected  to  Parliament  for  the  pocket-borough  of 
Wendovcr.  In  1774,  in  recognition  of  his  speech  on  American 
Taxation,  he  was  elected  to  represent  Bristol,  a  city  second  in 
importance  in  England.  It  was  immediately  after  this  election 
which  greatly  added  to  his  prestige,  that  he  delivered  his  mas- 
terpiece on  Conciliation  with  America.  With  his  death  in 
1797,  his  long  fight  for  just  and  honest  government  came  to  a 
close. 


Conciliation   with  America 


The  text  is  taken  from  The  Works  of  Edmund  Burke,  Lon- 
don, 1801,  vol.  Ill,  p.  25.  The  editors  suggest  that  not  more 
than  half  of  Conciliation  with  America  be  assigned  for  class 
study.  In  their  experience  results  have  justified  the  omission 
of  the  less  important  parts  of  the  speech  and  much  corrobora- 
tive detail.  In  the  present  edition  the  suggested  omissions  are 
printed  in  smaller  type. 

1  Sir.     Sir  Philip  Norton,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

2  A  worthy  member.  Mr.  Rose  Fuller,  who  in  1774  moved 
to  repeal  the  tax  on  tea.  It  was  on  this  motion  that  Burke 
delivered  his  speech  on  American  Taxation.. 


308  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

3  Paper  government.  Theoretical  government,  possibly  a 
reference  to  Locke's  scheme  of  colonial  government  for  Caro- 
lina. 

4  Juridical  determination.  This  project  of  Lord  North's, 
Burke  had  called  an  M  auction  of  finance "  since  each  colony 
through  the  size  of  its  appropriation  was  to  bid  for  privi- 
leges. That  it  did  not  provide  for  a  free  grant  from  the 
colonies  is  evident:  for  the  share  that  any  colony  should  be 
required  to  furnish  for  defense  was  determined  by  the  authori- 
ties in  England;  most  of  the  former  obnoxious  taxes  could  be 
retained  under  the  provision  for  regulating  commerce;  and, 
finally,  if  the  assemblies  failed  to  give,  the  revenue  would  be 
exacted. 

5  Colony  agents.  As  the  colonies  lacked  the  privilege  of 
direct  representation  in  Parliament,  they  often  sent  agents  to 
watch  legislation  and  try  to  influence  it.  The  fact  that  they 
had  to  stay  in  the  lobby,  gave  rise  to  the  word  lobbyist. 

6  Noble  lord's  project.  The  project  is  outlined  in  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  passed  by  the  House  on  February  20,  1775: 

"  That  when  the  Governor,  Council,  or  Assembly,  or  Gen- 
eral Court,  of  any  of  his  Majesty's  Provinces  or  Colonies  in 
America,  shall  propose  to  make  provision,  according  to  the 
condition,  circumstances,  and  situation,  of  such  Province  or 
Colony,  for  contributing  their  proportion  to  the  Common  De- 
fense (such  proportion  to  be  raised  under  the  Authority  of  the 
General  Court,  or  General  Assembly,  of  such  Province  or 
Colony,  and  disposable  by  Parliament),  and  shall  engage  to 
make  provision  also  for  the  support  of  the  Civil  Government, 
and  the  Administration  of  Justice,  in  such  Province  or  Colony, 
it  will  be  proper,  if  such  Proposal  shall  be  approved  by  his 
Majesty,  and  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  for  so  long 
as  such  Provision  shall  be  made  accordingly,  to  forbear,  in 
respect  of  such  Province  or  Colony,  to  levy  any  duty,  Tax,  or 
Assessment,  or  to  impose  any  further  Duty,  Tax,  or  Assess- 
ment, except  such  duties  as  it  may  be  expedient  to  continue  to 
levy  or  impose,  for  the  Regulation  of  Commerce;  the  Nett 
Produce  of  the  Duties  last  mentioned  to  be  carried  to  the 
account  of  such  Province  or  Colony  respectively." 

7  Bills  of  pains  and  penalties.  Such  were  the  Boston  Port 
bill  and  the  Grand  Penal  bill.     . 

8  The  object  was  America  as  a  commercial  ally  of  Britain. 

9  This  gentleman.  Richard  Glover,  the  poet,  who  petitioned 
Parliament  against  the  Spaniards  in  1742. 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  309 

10  Bar.  The  railing  that  excludes  non-members  from  the 
main  area  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

11 A  eta  parentum  jam  legere  et  qua  sit  potent  eognoscere 
virtus.  To  read  the  deeds  of  his  forefathers  and  to  know  what 
virtue  is. 

12  Roman  charity.  He  refers  to  the  Roman  story  of  Cymon, 
who,  condemned  to  death  by  starvation,  was  kept  alive  by  his 
daughter,  Xanthippe,  who  visited  him  in  prison  and  nourished 
him  with  milk  from  her  breasts. 

13  Seemed  even  to  excite  your  envy.  Lord  North's  Grand 
Penal  bill  attempted  to  put  a  stop  to  the  New  England  fisheries. 

14  Frozen  serpent.  Hydrus,  a  small  constellation  within  the 
Antarctic  Circle. 

15  Dissidence  of  dissent.     Extreme  dissent. 

16  Friend.     Attorney-general  Thurlow. 

17  Abeunt  studia  in  mores.     Studies  pass  into  character. 

18  Lord  Dunmore.     Governor  of  Virginia. 

19  To  change  that  spirit.  Note  the  argument  by  elimination. 
Burke  prefers  to  have  the  third  choice  accepted  because  the 
other  two  were  unsuitable  rather  than  force  validity  by  specific 
argument. 

20  Giving  up  the  colonies.  Dean  Tucker  of  Gloucester  advo- 
cated the  giving  up  of  the  colonies  in  1774,  maintaining  that 
England  could  get  the  entire  trade  of  America  by  merely  of- 
fering the  best  market. 

21  Spoliatis  arma  supersunt:  Juvenal,  Satires  VIII,  124. 
"Those  who  have  been  despoiled,  may  resort  to  arms." 

22  The  ocean  remains.  This  suggests  a  very  real  and  effec- 
tive argument.  When  it  required  months  to  cross  the  sea  the 
bonds  between  America  and  the  Mother  Country  were  neces- 
sarily weak.  The  lack  of  speedy  and  adequate  communication 
with  England  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  important 
causes  of  the  demand  for  independence. 

Among  neighbors  an  understanding  is  necessary  even  though 
we  ignore  people  far  away  with  whom  we  have  no  dealing. 
One  of  the  chief  incentives  to  the  growth  of  Federal  authority 
in  America  has  been  improvement  in  transportation  and  com- 
munication. In  like  manner  modern  development  in  these  arts 
makes  it  impossible  for  America  longer  to  ignore  her  interna- 
tional obligations. 

23  Sir  Edvoard  Coke.  An  erudite  but  heartless  magistrate 
who  in  1603  at  the  trial  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  for  treason 
assailed  the  prisoner  in  spiteful  language. 


310  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

24  Ex  vi  termini.     From  the  meaning  of  the  word. 

25  Formerly  addressed.  They  petitioned  the  King,  February 
13,  1769. 

26  A  necessary  evil.  Is  not  this  argumentative  rather  than 
persuasive? 

27  Revenue  act.     The  Stamp  Act. 

28  The  colonies  will  go  further.  Burke's  opponents  feared 
that  if  the  revenue  laws  were  repealed,  it  would  be  the  first 
step  toward  self-government  and  the  permanent  loss  of  the 
colonies.     Burke  later  refutes  this. 

29  Philip  the  Second:  son  of  Charles  V.  He  is  best  known  for 
his  famous  fleet,  the  Spanish  Armada,  with  which  he  unsuccess- 
fully tried  to  wrest  the  English  throne  from  Elizabeth. 

30  The  genius  of  the  English  Constitution.  The  English  Con- 
stitution is  not  a  single,  written  document  containing  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  government  as  does  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  It  is  rather  made  up  of  historical  traditions,  and 
important  acts,  such  as  the  Magna  Charta,  the  Bill  of  Rights, 
and  other  charters.  It  is  by  no  means  indefinite  or  vaguely 
defined.  Burke  refers  to  it  with  perfect  confidence,  finding  in 
its  treatment  of  Ireland,  Chester,  Wales,  and  Durham,  satis- 
factory precedents  for  a  different  treatment  of  the  American 
colonies  than  that  advocated  by  Lord  North  and  his  followers. 

31  Simul,  etc.  Horace,  Odes,  I,  12,  27-32.  As  soon  as  the 
bright  star  shone  upon  the  sailors,  the  troubled  water  recedes 
from  the  rocks,  the  winds  die  away,  the  clouds  scatter,  and 
because  they  (Castor  and  Pollux)  have  so  willed,  the  threaten- 
ing wave  subsides  into  the  sea. 

32  Opposuit  natura:  nature  opposes  it. 

33  Republic  of  Plato,  etc.:  well-known  accounts  of  ideal  com- 
monwealths. 

34  The  year  1763:  the  year  in  which  Grenville  came  into 
power.  Before  this  a  policy  of  "salutary  neglect"  had  been 
pursued,  but  was  then  discarded  for  a  new  policy  of  exaction. 

35  By  grant  and  not  by  imposition.  The  colonial  assemblies 
were  to  vote  money  to  the  King  as  a  voluntary  gift,  and  were 
not  to  be  subjected  to  taxes,  such  as  the  Stamp  Act,  imposed  by 
Parliament  without  their  being  consulted.  This  involved  the 
repeal  of  the  Declaratory  Act. 

36  Fourteen  colonies.     Quebec  was  included. 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  311 

37  Non  meus,  etc.  The  language  is  not  mine,  but  that  taught 
by  Ofellus,  a  rustic,  but  unusually  wise. 

38  Lord  Hillsborough.  Secretary  of  State  for  the  colonies, 
1768-1772. 

39  Restraining  bill.     The  Grand  Penal  Bill. 

40  Far  less  power.  The  King  did  not  have  the  power  of 
veto  in  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island. 

41  Ireland  has.     The  Irish  Parliament  was  abolished  in  1800. 

42  Experimentum  in  corpore  vili.  Let  us  experiment  on  a 
worthless  object. 

43  Posita  luditur  area.     The  money  chest  is  given  as  a  stake. 

44  Sursum  corda!  Lift  up  your  hearts!  is  the  exhortation 
with  which  in  the  service  of  the  church  the  priest  proceeds  to 
consecrate  the  elements. 

45  Quod  felix  faiistumque  sit.  May  it  be  happy  and  fortu- 
nate. It  is  the  Roman  invocation  on  beginning  or  concluding  a 
solemn  act. 

PATRICK  HENRY 

Patrick  Henry  was  born  in  Hanover  County,  Virginia,  in 
1736.  With  James  Otis  he  shares  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  to  advocate  resistance  by  force  of  arms  as  the  only  remedy 
for  the  evils  existing  in  the  relations  between  England  and 
America.  Under  his  leadership,  Virginia  was  the  first  state  to 
oppose  the  Stamp  Act.  He  introduced  into  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses a  resolution  denying  that  Parliament  had  the  right  to 
tax  the  American  colonies.  He  realized  that  the  trouble  was 
caused  by  the  ministers  of  George  III,  and  in  the  frequently 
quoted  passage  boldly  asserted,  "  Caesar  had  his  Brutus,  Charles 

I  had  his  Cromwell,  and  George  III "     Here  pausing  until 

the  cry  of  "  Treason !  "  from  several  parts  of  the  house  had 
ended,  he  deliberately  added  "  may  profit  by  their  example.  If 
this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it."  Henry  was  twice  elected 
governor  of  Virginia,  and  his  influence  was  very  important  in 
the  formation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  He  was 
somewhat  afraid  of  setting  up  a  strong  central  government,  for 
as  he  often  said,  "A  wrong  step  made  now  will  plunge  us  into 
misery,  and  our  republic  will  be  lost."  He  died  in  Charlotte 
County,  Virginia,  in  the  same  year  as  Washington,  1799. 


312  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

Liberty  or  Death 

The  text  is  taken  from  The  Life,  Correspondence,  and 
Speeches  of  Patrick  Henry,  by  William  Wirt  Henry,  New  York, 
1891,  vol.  I,  p.  262.  Moses  Coit  Tyler  says  of  the  version  of 
the  speech  here  followed,  that  it  certainly  gives  the  substance 
of  Henry's  argument  and  is  "  probably  more  authentic  than  are 
most  of  the  famous  speeches  attributed  to  public  characters 
before  reporters'  galleries  were  opened  and  before  the  art  of 
reporting  was  brought  to  its  present  perfection." 

1  That  insidious  smile.  A  rumor  was  current  that  nearly  all 
that  the  Continental  Congress  had  asked  for  in  its  petition  to 
the  King  on  September  1,  1774,  was  about  to  be  granted. 
Henry's  distrust  of  this  report  was  justified,  for  the  rumor 
proved  to  be  unfounded. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

George  Washington  was  born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Vir- 
ginia, on  February  22,  1732,  of  sturdy  old  English  stock.  His 
father,  Augustine  Washington,  was  a  successful  planter. 
While  Washington  was  still  an  infant  the  family  lived  for 
a  time  on  the  estate  on  the  Potomac  now  known  as  Mount 
Vernon;  but  they  soon  moved  again  to  another  of  his  father's 
farms.  At  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  he  received  a  common  school 
education;  he  also  studied  surveying  and  possibly  learned  a 
little  Latin. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  returned  to  Mount  Vernon  to  live 
with  his  brother.  There  he  became  acquainted  with  Lord 
Fairfax  and  was  engaged  by  this  gentleman  to  survey  his 
tracts  of  land  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge.  It  was  a  romantic  and 
venturesome  undertaking  for  a  boy  of  sixteen.  For  three  years 
he  lived  much  of  the  time  in  the  wilderness  and  became  expert 
in  woodcraft. 

In  1753  Governor  Dinwiddie  selected  the  young  surveyor  to 
bear  a  message  of  remonstrance  to  the  commandant  of  the 
French  who  were  attempting  to  establish  settlements  in  the 
Ohio  valley.  The  hazardous  mission  was  performed  so  success- 
fully that  Washington  was  made  a  lieutenant  colonel  and  was 
soon  attached  to  the  staff  of  General  Braddock.  In  the  French 
and  Indian  war  he  gained  a  knowledge  of  military  tactics 
and  the  reputation  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  as  the  best  known 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  313 

military  man  in  America.  Through  the  disasters  that  the 
army  experienced,  he  had  learned  one  most  valuable  fact — 
that  British  regulars  were  not  invincible. 

In  1759  he  married  Mrs.  Martha  Custis  and  lived  the  life  of 
a  planter  and  country  gentleman  on  his  estate  of  2500  acres 
at  Mount  Vernon.  During  these  years  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses.  In  1774  he  journeyed  on 
horseback  with  Patrick  Henry  to  attend  the  Continental  Con- 
gress in  Philadelphia. 

When  he  was  made  commander-in-chief  of  the  American 
forces  he  called  all  to  witness  that  he  assumed  the  office  as 
an  act  of  duty  and  not  by  his  own  desire.  Through  the  entire 
war  he  refused  to  accept  a  cent  of  pay.  After  his  retirement 
from  the  presidency  he  lived  at  Mount  Vernon  but  two  years 
and  died,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven,  on  December  14,  1799. 

The  Farewell  Address 

The  text  is  that  of  the  Philadelphia  American  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser for  September  19,  1796,  with  sufficient  changes  to  make 
it  conform  to  modern  practices  in  orthography. 

Near  the  close  of  Washington's  first  term  as  president,  when 
he  contemplated  retiring  from  office,  he  sent  Madison  notes  he 
had  prepared  for  a  farewell  address  and  asked  for  assistance. 
The  suggestions  offered  by  Madison  he  used  to  a  certain  extent 
when  preparing  the  address  he  drew  up  near  the  close  of  his 
second  term.  This  new  manuscript  was  forwarded  to  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  for  further  advice.  Hamilton,  after  many 
conferences  with  Chief  Justice  Jay,  sent  his  suggestions  to  the 
president.  These  manuscripts  Washington  considered  carefully 
and  at  last,  after  much  rigorous  and  careful  revision,  pro- 
duced the  speech  that  is  known  to-day  as  his  Farewell  Address. 
That  it  embodies  the  ideas  and  thoughts  of  Washington  and 
was  composed  in  the  main  by  Washington  himself,  is  the 
opinion  of  the  most  reliable  historians  and  critics. 

In  the  Memoirs  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 
vol.  I,  part  2,  page  256,  David  C.  Claypole,  editor  of  the 
Daily  Advertiser,  has  given  an  account  of  the  original  publica- 
tion of  the  Farewell  Address: 

"  A  few  days  before  the  appearance  of  this  memorable  docu- 
ment in  print,  I  received  a  message  from  the  President  by  his 
private  secretary  signifying  his  desire  to  see  me.  I  waited  on 
him  at  the  appointed  time,  and  found  him  sitting  alone  in  the 


3H  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

drawing-room.  He  received  me  very  kindly  and  after  I  had 
paid  my  respects  to  him,  desired  me  to  take  a  seat  near  him — 
then  addressing  himself  to  me  said,  that  he  had  for  some  time 
past  contemplated  withdrawing  from  public  life,  and  had  at 
length  concluded  to  do  so  at  the  end  of  the  (then)  present 
term;  that  he  had  some  thoughts  and  reflections  on  the  occa- 
sion, which  he  deemed  proper  to  communicate  to  the  people  of 
the  United  States  in  the  form  of  an  address,  and  which  he 
wished  to  appear  in  the  Daily  Advertiser,  of  which  I  was 
editor.  He  paused,  and  I  took  occasion  of  thanking  him  for 
having  preferred  that  paper  as  the  channel  of  his  communica- 
tion with  the  people,  especially  as  I  viewed  this  selection  as 
indicating  his  approbation  of  the  principles  and  manner  irt 
which  the  work  was  conducted.  He  silently  assented,  and 
asked  when  the  publication  could  be  made.  I  answered  that 
the  time  should  be  made  perfectly  convenient  to  himself,  and 
the  following  Monday  was  fixed  on; — he  then  told  me  his 
secretary  would  call  on  me  with  the  copy  of  the  address  on 
the  next    (Friday)    morning   and   I   withdrew. 

"  After  the  proof  sheet  had  been  compared  with  the  copy 
and  corrected  by  myself,  I  carried  another  proof  and  then  a 
revise  to  be  examined  by  the  President,  who  made  but  few 
alterations  from  the  original,  except  in  the  punctuation,  in 
which  he   was  very  minute. 

"  The  publication  of  the  Address  dated  'United  States,  Sep- 
tember 17,  1796,'  being  completed  on  the  19th,  I  waited  on  the 
President  with  the  original,  and  in  presenting  it  to  him  ex- 
pressed my  regret  at  parting  with  it  and  how  much  I  should 
be  gratified  by  being  permitted  to  retain  it;  upon  which,  in  an 
obliging  manner,  he  handed  it  back  to  me,  saying,  that  if  I 
wished  for  it,  I  might  keep  it;  and  I  took  my  leave  of  him." 

The  original  document  and  a  copy  of  the  paper  in  which 
it  was  first  published  are  preserved  in  the  New  York  Public 
Library. 

1  New  election.  November  8,  1796.  As  the  electoral  college 
at  that  time  actually  chose  a  president,  it  was  not  necessary  to 
announce  candidates  so  far  in  advance   as  now. 

2  On  the  proper  occasion.  In  his  inaugural  address  of  April 
30,  1789. 

3  The  inferiority  of  my  qualifications.  Chief  Justice  Jay,  in 
a  letter  written  in  1811,  gives  personal  testimony  to  support 
Washington's  authorship  of  the  Address  and  observes  that  such 
words  as  these  and  similar  expressions  at  the  end  of  the  speech 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  315 

could   hardly  come  from    any  one   except   George   Washington. 

4  A  former  and  not  dissimilar  occasion.  His  letter  of  fare- 
well to  the  army,  June  8,  1783. 

5  Palladium.  An  image  of  Athene,  that  as  long  as  pre- 
served, conferred  safety  on  Troy. 

6  Treaty  with  Spain.  The  Pinckney  treaty  of  1795  estab- 
lished the  southern  boundary  of  the  United  States  and  insured 
the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  river. 

7  Two  treaties.  The  second  was  the  treaty  with  England 
negotiated  by  Chief  Justice  Jay.  Among  other  advantages  it 
freed  the  West  from  British  soldiers  that  had  been  quartered 
there;  but  it  secured  far  fewer  trading  rights  than  were  de- 
sired and  it  failed  to  terminate  the  impressment  of  American 
seamen. 

8  The  most  horrid  enormities.  Probably  Washington  had 
in  mind  the  Reign  of  Terror.  Observe,  as  you  read  on,  that 
Washington's  counsel  is  that  citizens  should  discourage,  re- 
strain, moderate,  mitigate,  and  assuage  the  fury  of  party 
spirit.  He  does  not  condemn  the  orderly  association  of  people 
of  like  view  for  the  promotion  -of  any  proper  object. 

9  Cherish  public  credit.  In  1780  John  Jay  was  sent  as 
plenipotentiary  to  Spain  with  the  hope  that  he  would  be  able 
to  obtain  a  subsidy  for  America.  Spain  turned  a  deaf  ear  to 
his  entreaty  and  would  not  even  recognize  his  credentials.  In 
the  meantime  Congress  had  drawn  bills  upon  him  for  more 
than  half  a  million  dollars.  Jay  first  used  his  personal  means 
and  then  begged  money  where  he  could,  but  at  last  was  forced 
to  protest  the  bills.  The  credit  of  the  new  country  was,  how- 
ever, saved  for  the  time  being  by  a  subsidy  granted  by  France. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  the  country  was  again  bank- 
rupt and  was  unable  to  borrow  money  anywhere.  Manyr 
specious  arguments  were  offered  by  influential  men  for  the- 
cancellation  of  all  American  public  debts.  Washington  would 
not  countenance  the  plan.  He  appointed  as  Secretary  of  the; 
Treasury  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  was  honest  and  far-seeinp; 
beyond  most  men  of  his  time.  Hamilton  established  the  excise 
and  a  national  banking  system,  and  announced  to  the  world* 
that  he  would   pay  with  interest  every  cent  of  American   debt.. 

10  Inveterate  antipathies.  Great  Britain,  France,  z»nd  Spain 
were  each  detested  at  this  time  by  a  different  group  of  th? 
American  people  and  were  each  equally  favored  by  others.  In 
1793  the  French  sent  Genet  as  minister  to  America.  Without 
even  presenting  his  credentials  to,  the  Fecteual  governsment^  fee. 


316  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

began  enlisting  American  recruits  and  fitting  out  privateers  to 
prey  on  British  commerce.  Some  favored  him  because  of  love 
for  France,  and  others  because  of  hatred  for  England  He 
caused  much  disturbance  before  his  commission  was  cancelled. 
11  My  proclamation.  A  proclamation  of  neutrality  in  the  war 
of  England,  Prussia,  Austria,  Holland,  and  Spain  against 
France. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER 

Daniel  Webster  was  born  at  Salisbury,  New  Hampshire,  in 
1782  of  extremely  poor  parents.  In  spite  of  his  poverty,  his 
father  was  resolved  that  the  boy  should  be  well  educated.  Al- 
though hindered  by  many  obstacles,  Daniel  was  finally  gradu- 
ated from  Dartmouth  in  1801.  After  a  brief  experience  at 
teaching  he  entered  law  and  long  stood  at  the  head  of  his  pro- 
fession. 

In  1819  occurred  his  first  great  legal  battle,  the  celebrated 
Dartmouth  College  case,  in  which  the  corporation  was  first 
recognized  as  a  legal  entity.  But  it  is  really  as  a  persuasive 
orator  that  he  achieved  his  greatest  fame.  In  December,  1820, 
he  delivered  an  oration  at  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  founding  of  Plymouth  Colony.  In  June,  1825,  came  the 
famous  address  at  Bunker  Hill.  The  following  year  he  spoke  at 
Fanueil  Hall  on  Adams  and  Jefferson. 

Webster  represented  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  from  1813  to  1827,  when  he  was  elected  United 
States  senator  from  Massachusetts.  In  1830,  his  Reply  to 
Hayne  placed  him  at  once  in  a  foremost  position  among  Ameri- 
can statesmen  and  marked  the  climax  of  his  political  career. 
In  1839,  he  became  secretary  of  state  to  President  Harrison, 
and  continued  in  office  under  President  Tyler.  In  1842  he 
negotiated  with  Lord  Ashburton  a  treaty  establishing  the 
boundary  line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada.  For  a 
few  years  he  enjoyed  private  life,  but  in  1845  was  sent  again 
to  the  Senate,  and  was  there  active  during  the  Mexican  War. 
His  support  of  the  Compromise  of  1850  "in  all  its  points"  in- 
cluding the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  did  much  to  lessen  his  popu- 
larity and  .  dim  his  fame.  When  Fillmore  became  president 
Webster  again  became  secretary  of  state,  and  occupied  that 
position  until  he  died,  October  24,  1852. 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  317 


First  Bunker  Hill  Address 

The  text  is  slightly  abridged  from  vol.  I,  p.  59  of  The 
Works  of  Daniel  Webster,  6th  ed.,  Boston,   1853. 

1  Ancient  colony.  This  description  would  apply  to  Virginia, 
New  York  and  other  colonies. 

2  Society  whose  organ  I  am.  The  Bunker  Hill  Monument 
Association  was  founded  in  1823.  Daniel  Webster  was  its  sec- 
ond president. 

3  The  foundation  of  that  monument.  Seventeen  years  later 
the  granite  obelisk,  221  feet  in  height,  was  completed. 

4  Venerable  men.  Two  hundred  veterans  of  the  Revolution- 
ary War  were  present;  forty  of  them  had  taken  part  in  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 

5  One  who  now  hears  me.  The  Marquis  de  Lafayette  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1777  and  was  given  a  commission  as 
major-general  He  took  part  in  several  battles  and  was  once 
wounded.  When  he  returned  to  America  in  1825  as  the  nation's 
guest,  he  was  given  a  triumphal  progress  wherever  he  went. 

QSerus  in  coelum  redeas.  May  it  be  lnog  before  you  return 
to  heaven. 

1 "  I  am  the  state."  This  is  the  French  expression  of  the  Eng- 
lish principle  of  the  Divine  Right  of  Kings. 

8  Struggle  of  the  Greeks:  the  Greek  war  with  the  Turks  for 
independence. 

Webster's  Reply  to  Hayne 

The  text  is  abridged  from  vol.  Ill,  pp.  249-349  of  The  Works 
of  Daniel  Webster,  6th  ed.,  Boston,  1853.  I*  was  spoken  origi- 
nally in  connection  with  the  debate  of  Foot's  bill  to  limit  the 
sale  of  public  lands  and  was  known  extensively  as  Webster's 
speech  on  Foot's  resolution.     It  required  a  day  for  its  delivery. 

1  The  honorable  gentleman:  Robert  Y.  Hayne.  He  was  born 
in  South  Carolina  in  1791  and  became  speaker  of  the  state  as- 
sembly in  1816.  He  refused  the  attorney-generalship  of  the 
United  States  to  become  the  attorney-general  of  South  Carolina. 
In  1822  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  where  he 
frequently  presented  with  eloquence  the  views  of  Calhoun  who 
was  vice-president.  He  afterward  became  governor  of  South 
Carolina  and  died  in  1840. 

2  Hearty  concurrence.  Webster's  generosity  and  his  love  for 
the  Union  as  a  whole,  leaves  no  doubt  that  this  is  his  sincere 


318  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

opinion.  As  a  debater,  nevertheless,  he  was  accustomed  to  dif- 
fer with  his  opponents  on  as  few  matters  as  possible  and  to  try- 
to  turn  the  ideas  that  they  presented  most  elaborately  into  argu- 
ments for  his  own  side. 

3  Honored  name.  Hayne's  grandfather  was  a  famous  Revo- 
lutionary patriot.  This  generous  reference  to  the  ancestry  of 
his  opponent,  went  far  to  disarm  criticism  and  to  secure  for 
Webster  a  sympathetic  hearing. 

4  The  people's  constitution.  On  the  morning  of  this  debate 
a  friend  of  Webster's  said,  "It  is  a  critical  moment;  and  it  is 
time,  it  is  high  time  that  the  people  of  this  country  should  know 
what  this  Constitution  is."  "  Then,"  replied  Mr.  Webster,  "  by 
the  blessing  of  heaven  they  shall  learn  this  day  before  the  sun 
goes  down  what  I  understand  it  to  be."  Webster  held  that 
the  will  of  the  people  exercised  through  the  Federal  govern- 
ment  is    supreme    and   of   necessity   the   states   must   submit. 

The  emphasis  secured  by  his  recurring  use  of  the  word 
■  people  '  in  this  paragraph,  reminds  one  of  the  similar  use  of  the 
word  in  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  speech. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Abraham  Lincoln,  the  sixteenth  president  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Harden  County,  Kentucky,  February  12,  1809.  In 
spite  of  the  limitations  and  hardships  of  his  early  life,  he  edu- 
cated himself  by  reading  and  diligent  study.  In  1834,  he  was 
elected  to  the  legislature  of  Illinois,  and  three  years  later  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  In  1846  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  and 
in  1858  was  defeated  for  the  United  States  Senate  by  Stephen 
A.  Douglas.  Two  years  later  he  became  president,  and  entered 
upon  an  administration  of  unparalleled  greatness  and  perma- 
nent service.  Perhaps  no  other  presidential  term  has  been 
chronicled  with  so  much  detail  and  painstaking  research;  and 
certainly  no  public  career  was  ever  more  worthy  of  compre- 
hensive study.  On  April  14,  1865,  his  life  was  suddenly  ended 
by  the  assassin's  bullet. 

"  He  lived,"  said  Joseph  H.  €h.<*are,  u  to  see  his  proclamar 
tion  of  emancipation  embodied  w\  a>n  amendment  to.  the  Consti- 
tution. It  was  given  t©>  him  to.  witness  the  surrender  of  the 
Rebel  Army  and  the  fall  of  their  capitol,  and  the  starry  flag 
that  he  loved  waving  in  triumph  over  the  national  soil.  When 
he  died  by  the  madman's  hand  in  the  supreme  hour  of  victory 
the  vanquished  lost  their  best  friend,  and  the  human  race  one 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  319 

of  its  noblest  examples,  and  all  the  friends  of  freedom  and 
justice,  in  whose  cause  he  lived  and  died,  joined  hands  as 
mourners   at  his  grave." 

Lincoln's  Address  at  Cooper  Institute 

The  text  is  abridged  from  Address  of  Abraham  Lincoln  Issued 
by  the  Young  Men's  Republican  Club,  New  York,  i860. 

1  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  constitutional 
convention  met  in  Independence  Hall  in  Philadelphia,  on  May 
25>  *787.  There  were  fifty-five  delegates  chosen  from  among 
the  most  distinguished  men  in  America.  After  Washington  had 
been  elected  chairman,  the  convention  debated  in  secret  for 
nearly  four  months.  When  the  work  was  completed,  thirty- 
nine  of  the  forty-two  delegates  then  present  signed  the  docu- 
ment. Its  success  is  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  founded, 
not  on  theory,  but  on  approved  precedent  existing  in  the  Eng- 
lish Constitution  or  in  the  organization  of  the  American  states. 
It  is  unequalled  by  any  work  of  its  kind  produced  during  the 
history  of  the  world. 

2  Corporal  oath:  a  solemn  oath,  originally  so  named  from 
laying  the  hand  on  some  sacred  object,  as  the  corporal-cloth  of 
the  altar. 

3  John  Brown  was  a  fanatic  who  had  been  spurred  on  to  vio- 
lence by  his  experiences  in  Kansas  in  1854  during  the  struggle 
for  control  by  the  slavery  and  anti-slavery  factions.  After 
seizing  the  arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry,  Va.,  he  '  emancipated  '  the 
slaves  in  that  vicinity.  He  was  soon  overpowered,  tried  for 
treason,  and  hanged.  Although  Brown's  action  was  not  justi- 
fied by  the  abolitionists,  the  incident  greatly  increased  the 
growing  ill-will  between  the  South  and  the  North. 

4  Orsini's  attempt  on  Louis  Napoleon.  About  two  years  be- 
fore the  delivery  of  this  speech,  Felice  Orsini,  an  Italian  pa- 
triot, attempted  to  assassinate  Napoleon  III.  The  English 
people  were  suspected  by  the  French  of  being  in  sympathy  with 
the  plot. 

5  Helper's  book:  The  Impending  Crisis  of  the  South,  by  Hin- 
ton  Rowan  Helper,  of  North  Carolina,  was  published  in  1857 
and  had  an  extensive  sale.  It  was  a  severe  criticism  of  slavery. 

EDWARD  D.  BAKER 

Edward  Dickinson  Baker  was  born  in  London,  England, 
February  24,  1811.     In  181$   his  father  moved  to  Philadelphia, 


32o  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

and  ten  years  later  to  Illinois.  He  followed  his  father's  trade 
as  weaver  for  a  while,  and  then  took  up  the  study  of  law.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Springfield,  and  in  1837  was  sent  to 
the  state  legislature.  In  1840  he  was  made  state  senator,  and 
four  years  later  representative  to  Congress.  He  resigned  his 
seat  in  1846  to  take  active  part  in  the  Mexican  War  in  which 
he  distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz  and  at  Cerro 
Gordo.  From  1849  to  1851  he  againserved  in  Congress.  In  the 
latter  year  he  went  to  California  to  practice  law.  In  i860  he 
was  elected  United  States  senator  from  Oregon.  At  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  War  he  became  colonel  of  a  volunteer  regi- 
ment, and  at  the  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff  on  October  21,  1861,  he 
was   killed   in   action. 

Breckenridge-Baker  Debate  on  the  War 

The  text  is  abridged  from  The  Congressional  Globe,  37th 
Congress,  First  Session,  pp.  376-380. 

1  Does  not  the  world  know  itf  When  all  is  in  doubt  and  the 
future  dark,  such  asseveration  seems  unanswerable.  At  such 
times  it  needs  a  brave  man  to  make  a  courageous  reply. 

2  In  favor  of  peace,  etc.  Bereavement,  hunger,  expense,  as 
noted  by  Breckenridge,  are  the  inevitable  accompaniments  of 
war,  but  are  not  arguments  concerning  the  justice  of  the  dis- 
pute or  its  necessity.  Did  the  use  of  these  ideas  help  Brecken- 
ridge to  accomplish  his  purpose? 

3  A  sneer  of  incredulity.  This  is  an  interesting  snapshot 
of  the  faces  of  his  audience. 

4  The  Senator  from  Vermont.  Senator  Collamer  had  opposed 
the  bill  because  he  believed  that  the  commanding  general  ought 
to  be  left  utterly  free  to  conduct  military  affairs  without  any 
regulation   on  the   part  of   Congress. 

5  Capitol  of  the  Confederacy.  In  Twenty  Years  in  Con- 
gress, vol.  I,  p.  344,  Blaine  says,  "  Breckenridge  made  a  speech 
of  which  it  is  a  fair  criticism  to  say  that  it  reflected  in  all 
respects  the  views  held  by  the  Confederate  Congress  then  in 
session  in  Richmond." 

6  Knowing  their  value  well.  Logical  argument  cannot  cope 
with  the  emotional  and  persuasive  force  of  words  such  as  these. 

JOHN  BRIGHT 

John  Bright  was  born  in  Greenbank,  Rochedale,  England  in 
1811.     Unlike   most  celebrated   orators  he   had   little  education 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  321 

other  than  that  gained  by  experience,  for  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
he  started  his  business  career  in  his  father's  factory.  In  1832 
he  championed  the  Liberal  cause  in  the  reform  movement  and 
seven  years  later  attained  prominence  as  a  member  of  the 
Anti-Corn  Law  League.  In  this  campaign  he  became  the 
close  friend  and  associate  of  Richard  Cobden,  the  inspiring 
genius  of  the  Free  Trade  movement.  In  1843  Bright  was 
elected  to  Parliament  and  immediately  advocated  the  extension 
of  free  trade.  During  the  War  of  the  Crimea,  Bright  opposed 
the  government  in  its  course,  and  as  a  result  was  defeated  in  the 
city  of  Manchester  in  1857.  He  immediately  found  ardent  sup- 
porters in  Birmingham  and  was  returned  to  Parliament  as 
representative  of  that  city.  During  the  American  Civil  War 
he  defended  the  cause  of  the  North  and  was  largely  responsible 
for  the  fact  that  England  did  not,  like  France  recognize  the 
independence  of  the  Confederacy.  In  1882  he  resigned  his  seat 
in  the  cabinet  because  of  lack  of  agreement  with  Mr.  Gladstone, 
the  prime  minister,  in  regard  to  the  bombardment  of  Alexan- 
dria. The  remaining  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  com- 
parative retirement,  and  in   1889  he  died. 

The  Trent  Affair 

The  text  is  abridged  from  p.  167  of  vol  I  of  Speeches  on 
Questions  of  Public  Policy,  by  John  Bright,  2  vols.,  London, 
1868. 

1  All  up  in  arms.  When  the  news  of  the  capture  of  the  com- 
missioners reached  England,  a  great  outburst  of  anger  over- 
spread the  kingdom  and  the  government  began  making  prepa- 
rations for  war.  Great  quantities  of  munitions  were  shipped  to 
Canada.  Thirty  thousand  soldiers  were  put  on  board  ship  with 
the  understanding  that  they  were  to  go  to  Charlestown  to  join 
the  Confederates.     In  reality  they  were  sent  to  Halifax. 

2  //  all  other  tongues  are  silent.  With  such  statements 
Bright  was  able  to  secure  sympathy  for  his  position  and  to 
dull   the  criticism  that  his  views   were  not   representative. 

John  Lothrop  Motley,  the  historian,  wrote  to  Bright  as  fol- 
lows: "When  I  first  read  your  speech  at  Rochdale,  I  wished 
to  write  and  thank  you  for  it  at  once.  But  I  found  myself  too 
agitated  to  do  so.  I  laid  it  aside  for  two  days,  and  I  have 
just  now  read  it  all  through  again.  I  should  perhaps  have  been 
inclined  to  dwell  more,  in  writing  to  you,  upon  the  breadth 
and  accuracy  of  view,  the  thorough  grasp  of  the   subject  and 


322  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

the  lucid  flow  of  argument  by  which  your  speech  was  char- 
acterized ;  but  the  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  it  was 
delivered  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  express  my  emotions  in 
any  other  way  than  in  one  grand  burst  of  gratitude  to  the 
speaker.  Thank  God!  our  noble  mother  tongue  is  not  entirely 
given  over  to  revilings  and  denunciations  of  those  who  speak 
it  beyond  the  sea  And  I  honor  you  more  than  I  can  tell, 
for  your  courage  in  thus  standing  up,  in  the  midst  of  the  tem- 
pest of  unreasoning  wrath  now  sweeping  over  England,  to 
defend  not  an  unpopular  but  apparently  a  hated  cause." 

HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  born  in  Litchfield,  Connecticut, 
June  24,  1813.  In  1834  he  was  graduated  from  Amherst  Col- 
lege, and  three  years  later  from  the  Lane  Theological  Seminary 
in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  of  which  his  father  Lyman  Beecher,  was 
president.  He  entered  the  ministry  as  pastor  of  a  church  at 
Lawrenceberg,  Indiana,  and  later  removed  to  Indianapolis.  In 
1847,  he  became  pastor  of  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn,  which 
under  his  leadership  became,  next  to  Old  South  Church,  Boston, 
the  historic  church  of  America. 

During  the  Civil  War  Mr.  Beecher  was  an  ardent  abolitionist 
and  Unionist.  In  1863  he  travelled  in  England  on  behalf  of  the 
North,  and  delivered  five  memorable  addresses.  Although  he 
met  with  opposition  during  the  delivery  of  the  first  three  of  his 
addresses,  the  reception  given  to  the  fourth  was  by  far  the 
stormiest.  Placards  denouncing  him  had  been  generously  dis- 
tributed in  Liverpool  where  he  was  to  speak,  and  at  least  half 
the  audience  were  opposed  to  his  views.  By  means  of  this 
speech,  however,  he  succeeded  in  changing  the  sentiments  of 
almost  all  England  even  though  he  failed  to  win  the  particular 
audience.  Consequently  when  he  appeared  in  London,  October 
20,  1863,  Exeter  Hall  was  so  crowded  he  could  hardly  enter. 
Instead  of  opposition  he  met  with  sympathy.  During  the  four 
days  since  his  speech  at  Liverpool,  England  had  experienced  a 
great  change  of  heart.  British  sentiment  now  favored  him,  and 
his  last  address  at  London  was  little  short  of  a  triumph.  The 
persuasive  power  of  his  speeches  has  probably  never  been  ex- 
celled. Certainly  few  men  ever  by  their  words  accomplished 
more   for   their   country. 

In  addition  to  his  work  as  preacher  and  orator,  he  was  for 
.years  the  editor  of  The  Christian  Union  and  The  New  York 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  323 

Independent.  In  1886  he  again  travelled  in  England,  and  was 
royally  entertained  as  the  ambassador  from  the  hearts  of 
a  friendly  people.     On   March   8,    1887,   he   died. 

Beecher's  Speech  at  Liverpool 

The  text  is  abridged  from  p.  515  of  Patriotic  Addresses  in 
America  and  England,  by  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Ed.  John  R. 
Howard,  New  York,   1887. 

Mason  and  Dixon's  line:  a  line  determining  the  boundary  of 
Maryland,  located  in  1763  by  two  surveyors  from  whom  it  was: 
named.  It  later  marked  the  division  between  the  free  and  the 
slave  states. 

2  Morrill  tariff.  This  tariff,  passed  in  1861,  greatly  increased 
duties.  In  order  to  produce  funds  for  war,  its  rates  were  raised 
twice  in  one  year.  Its  provisions  were  extremely  distasteful  to 
manufacturing  interests  in  England.  Even  Bright  called  it,  "  the 
monstrous  and  absurd  tariff." 

3  Recent  doctrine  of  neutrality.  The  position  of  neutrality 
which  England  had  assumed  was  defended  on  the  ground  that 
foreign  powers  could  not  respect  the  Federal  blockade  of  the 
Southern  ports  without  recognizing  that  a  state  of  war  between 
two  sovereign  states  existed.  In  183 1,  however,  Russia  had 
blockaded  her  own  ports  held  by  Circassian  rebels  and  Eng- 
land did  not  acknowledge  the  belligerent  rights  of  the  rebels. 

4  Lord  Russell.  Lord  John  Russell,  the  foreign  secretary, 
used  his  influence  consistently  in  favor  of  the  cause  of  the 
North.  While  the  official  government  of  England  did  little  in  a 
direct  way  to  aid  the  North,  it  did  much  indirectly.  Although 
there  were  Englishmen,  like  Lord  Palmerston,  who  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  Confederacy,  there  were  in  every  English  town 
men  who,  like  John  Bright,  used  every  means  at  their  command 
throughout  the  war  to  help  America  free  the  slaves  and  pre- 
serve the  Union. 

5  Against  a  storm.  Every  orator  who  attempts  to  influence 
an  audience  encounters  opposition  which,  even  if  not  apparent, 
seeks  to  make  his  words  ineffective.  Seldom,  indeed,  is  opposi- 
tion as  tangible  and  evident  as  that  which  Beecher  met  while 
delivering  this  speech. 

6  Strive  with  my  voice.  The  speech  with  interruptions  had 
occupied  three  hours. 


324  LIVES  AND  NOTES 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Speech  at  the  Dedication  of  the  National  Cemetery  at 
Gettysburg 

The  text  here  used  is  that  made  by  Lincoln  for  the  Soldiers 
and  Sailors'  Fair  at  Baltimore  in  1864.  It  can  be  found  in  31 
pamphlet  known  as  The  Address  of  the  Hon.  Edward  Everett 
at  the  National  Cemetery  of  Gettysburg,  November  iq,  1863, 
with  the  dedicatory  Speech  of  President  Lincoln  and  Other 
Exercises  of  the  Occasion,  Little,  Brown,  and  Co.,  Boston,  1864. 

1 A  great  battle-field.  Every  year  thousands  of  American 
citizens  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  spot,  now  marked  with  a 
bronze  memorial,  where  this  address  was  first  delivered.  Near 
the  cemetery  on  the  battle  ground  is  a  national  park  of  unique 
interest. 

Lincoln's  Second  Inaugural  Address 

The  text  is  taken  from  The  Complete  Works  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  vol.  II,  p.  656,  New  York,  1894. 

This  speech  was  delivered  but  six  weeks  before  Lincoln's 
death;  but  in  one  sense  these  weeks  were  the  best  of  his  life. 
His  Second  Inaugural  address  had  confirmed  the  reputation  that 
had  come  with  the  Gettysburg  speech.  It  was  called  the  great- 
est state  paper  of  the  century.  Scholars  and  critics  in  Europe 
and  America  testified  that  the  former  backwoodsman  had  be- 
come one  of  the  foremost  writers  of  English  in  the  world.  He 
was  hailed  everywhere  as  chief  among  patriots  and  states- 
men. His  high  hopes  for  the  future  were  also  realized.  On 
April  i  Sherman  defeated  the  Confederates  at  Five  Forks. 
The  next  day  Grant  won  at  Petersburg;  and  the  day  following, 
Richmond  fell.  On  April  9  Lee  surrendered  at  Appomattox 
and  the  Confederacy  was  beaten. 

As  Lincoln's  funeral  train  in  the  latter  part  of  April  passed 
through  the  chief  cities  of  the  East  on  its  progress  toward 
Springfield,  banners  were  hung  in  every  town  bearing  the  wbrds 
with  which  Lincoln  began  the  last  paragraph  of  this  speech — 
"  With  malice  for  none,  with  charity  for  all." 

HENRY  W.  GRADY 

Henry  Woodfin  Grady  was  born  at  Athens,  Georgia,  May 
24,  1850.  After  completing  his  education  at  the  universities  of 
Georgia  and  Virginia,  he  entered  upon  his  life  work,  journalism. 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  325 

After  serving  for  several  years  as  a  correspondent  and  editor  of 
several  papers,  he  became  part  owner  and  editor  of  The 
Atlanta  Constitution.  In  1886  at  the  annual  dinner  of  the 
New  England  Society  in  New  York  City,  he  delivered  his 
address  called  The  New  South.  The  next  morning,  his  speech 
occupied  the  chief  place  in  the  newspapers,  and  parts  of  it 
were  reprinted  all  over  the  country.  This  sudden  fame  en- 
couraged Grady  to  make  many  other  addresses  on  similar 
topics.  In  this  dual  capacity  of  speaker  and  editor,  he  used 
his  influence  to  eradicate  the  last  traces  of  prejudice  that  lin- 
gered between  the  North  and  the  South  as  a  result  of  the  Civil 
War.      He   died   December   23,    1889. 

The  New  South 

The  text  in  full  is  found  at  page  7  of  The  Complete  Ora- 
tions and  Speeches  of  Henry  IV.  Grady,  edited  by  Edwin  D. 
Shurter,  no  date,  Norwood.  The  version  used  here  follows  in 
most  respects  that  used  in  Select  Orations,  ed.  A.  M.  Hall,  New 
York,  1911. 

1  Benjamin  H.  Hill.  Benjamin  Harvey  Hill  was  born  in 
1823  and  died  in  1882.  In  1861,  in  the  Georgia  state  convention 
to  discuss  secession,  he  spoke  with  great  power  in  favor  of 
Georgia's  remaining  in  the  Union.  Nevertheless  he  went  with 
his  friends  into  the  Confederate  army.  After  the  war  was 
over  he  was  imprisoned  for  at  time  at  Fort  Lafayette  in  New 
York  harbor.  Later  he  became  a  patriotic  and  useful  member 
of  the  United  States  Senate. 

2  Tammany  Hall  is  located  at  145  East  Fourteenth  street, 
New  York  City.  It  is  the  meeting  place  of  the  Tammany  so- 
ciety, an   important  organization    in  the  Democratic  party. 

3  Dr.  Talmage.  Rev.  T.  De  Witt  Talmage,  D.D.,  was  famous 
as  lecturer  and  as  pastor  of  the  Brooklyn  Tabernacle  Presby- 
terian Church.  His  somewhat  sensational  sermons  were  widely 
puMished. 

4  Ashes  left  us  in  1864.  Atlanta  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil 
War  was  strongly  fortified  by  the  Confederates  and  was  de- 
fended first  by  General  Johnston  and  then  by  General  Hood. 
It  was  captured  by  Sherman  in  September,  1864,  and  as  a  con- 
sequence of  military  operations  was  nearly  destroyed  by  fire. 

.  5  The  South  has  nothing  to  take  back.  One  might  well  con- 
sider it  difficult  to  induce  a  Northern  audience  in  1886  to  accept 
that    view.     Through   what    logic   or   new   evidence   could    the 


326  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

speaker  hope  to  reconcile  the  conflicting  opinions  of  the  North 
and  the  South?  Grady's  statement  might  well  be  considered 
the  opening  sally  in  a  fierce  dispute  and  better  suited  to  arouse 
enmity  than  to  win  reconciliation.  Such  would  have  been  the 
case  had  the  orator  proceeded  to  debate  the  justice  of  his 
cause.  He  was  content,  however,  to  lay  argument  aside  and  to 
rely  on  persuasion.  When  he  referred  to  sentiments  universal 
among  men  and  wakened  in  his  audience  a  common  love  for 
country,  home,  and  family,  he  and  his  hearers  met  on  ground 
where  there  was  no  difference  of  opinion,  and  the  irreconcilable 
conflict  was  forgotten. 

6  A  name  dear  to  me.  The  father  of  the  speaker,  Colonel 
Grady,  was  born  in  North  Carolina  but  became  a  prominent 
business  man  in  Athens,  Georgia.  He  entered  the  Confederate 
army  and  was  killed  while  leading  his  regiment  in  a  charge  at 
Petersburg. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  twenty-fifth  president  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  New  York  City  in  1858.  Shortly  after  his 
graduation  from  Harvard  University,  he  became  a  member  of 
the  New  York  state  legislature.  He  subsequently  held  several 
important  public  offices,  including  that  of  police  commissioner 
of  New  York  City,  and  member  of  the  United  States  Civil 
Service  Commission.  In  1898  he  resigned  as  assistant  secretary 
of  the  navy  to  organize  a  volunteer  cavalry  regiment  which 
later  became  famous  as  the  "  Rough  Riders."  At  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  Spanish  American  War,  he  was  elected  governor  of 
New  York  State,  and  in  1900  was  elected  vice-president  of  the 
United  States.  In  September,  1901,  at  the  death  of  President 
William  McKinley,  Roosevelt  became  president;  and  in  1904 
by  vote  of  the  people  was  returned  to  the  same  office.  In  1912 
he  broke  away  from  the  Republican  party  and  ran  for  the 
presidency  on  the  Progressive  ticket,  but  was  defeated  by 
Woodrow  Wilson.  He  subsequently  engaged  in  literary  work 
and  took  an  active  part  in  public  affairs.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  war  he  espoused  the  side  of  the  allies;  and  when  the 
United  States  entered  the  contest,  offered  to  raise  and  equip  a 
regiment.     He  died  suddenly  on  January  6,  1919. 

History  will  credit  to  the  public  life  of  Theodore  Roosevelt 
the  aid  he  gave  to  downtrodden  wage-earners,  his  advocacy 
of  military  preparedness,  and  his  ideal  that  with  men  and  na- 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  327 

tions  expanded  influence  implies  enlarged  duty.  As  a  private 
citizen  he  will  be  remembered  for  his  joy  in  living,  his  cheer- 
ful optimism,  the  gentleness  of  his  family  life,  and  the  warmth 
of  his  friendship.  The  breadth  of  his  sympathy  is  shown  in 
the  fact  that  during  his  presidency  the  White  House  was  the 
resort  alike  of  philosophers  and  theologians,  and  of  prize- 
fighters and  Rough  Riders.  He  preferred  to  win  through  con- 
test rather  than  compromise.  His  adherence  to  the  side  of 
justice  and  his  moral  and  physical  courage  were  never  in 
doubt.  His  political  opponents  commended  his  sincerity  and 
manliness.  Before  his  death  he  was  known  both  at  home  and 
abroad   as  "  America's  first   citizen." 


The  Strenuous  Life 

The  text  is  abridged  from  The  Strenuous  Life,  The  Century 
Company,   New   York,    1902. 

Observe  the  means  taken  by  the  speaker  in  the  first  two 
paragraphs  to  secure  the  benevolent  attention  of  his   audience. 

1  Our  army  needs  complete  reorganization.  It  is  said  that  we 
won  the  war  with  Spain  not  because  of  our  military  efficiency, 
but  because  decrepit  Spain  was  poorer  than  we.  Many  of  the 
principal  officers  of  our  army  not  only  had  had  no  experience 
in  the  field  with  large  bodies  of  men  but  were  also  physically 
unable  to  endure  the  hardships  of  a  campaign.  Late  in  Roose- 
velt's last  term  as  president  he  directed  that  each  army  officer 
should  prove  his  ability  to  walk  fifty  miles  in  three  days  or 
ride  one  hundred.  As  his  order  was  bitterly  opposed  by  the 
army  and  by  the  press,  the  President  gave  an  illustration  of 
the  strenuous  life  by  riding  on  horseback  over  one  hundred 
miles  in  a  single  day. 

2  Ignoble  peace.  In  his  Autobiography  Roosevelt  says  there 
are  men  who  put  peace  ahead  of  righteousness  and  "  who  seek 
to  make  the  United  States  impotent  for  international  good 
under  the  pretense  of  making  us  impotent  for  international  evil. 
All  the  men  of  this  kind,  and  all  the  organizations  they  have 
controlled,  since  we  began  our  career  as  a  nation,  all  put  to- 
gether, have  not  accomplished  one  hundredth  part  as  much  for 
both  peace  and  righteousness,  have  not  done  one  hundredth 
part  as  much  either  for  ourselves  or  for  other  peoples,  as  was 
accomplished  by  the  people  of  the  United  States  when  they 
fought  the  war  with  Spain,   and   with  resolute   good  faith   and 


328  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

commonsense  worked   out  the   solution   of   the   problems   which 
sprang  from  the  war." 

3  The  domination  of  the  world.  While  President  Roosevelt 
may  not  have  had  the  German  nation  definitely  in  mind,  it  is 
true  that  it  was  even  then  using  every  means  to  extend  its  em- 
pire and  was  very  jealous  of  the  expansion  of  other  powers. 

HERBERT  HENRY  ASQUITH 

The  Right  Honorable  Herbert  Henry  Asquith  was  born  at 
Morley,  Yorkshire,  England,  September  12,  1852.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  the  City  of  London  School  and  Balliol  College,  Oxford. 
In  1886  he  was  elected  member  of  Parliament  for  East  Fife  and 
holds  that  office  to  this  day.  In  1892  he  was  appointed  secre- 
tary of  state  for  the  Home  Department  and  ecclesiastical  com- 
missioner. He  held  both  these  offices  for  three  years.  From 
1905  to  1908  he  was  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  and  in  the 
latter  year  became  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  prime  min- 
ister. When  war  was  declared  he  heroically  took  the  respon- 
sibility for  its  management  on  his  own  shoulders  by  becoming 
secretary  of  state  for  war.  Although  he  subsequently  gave  way 
to  David  Lloyd-George  he  was  generally  recognized  by  his 
friends  and  opponents  alike  as  a  stalwart  supporter  of  the  war 
and  as  one  of  the  master  leaders  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

The  Call  to  Arms 

The  text  is  found  in  The  New  York  Times  Current  History 
of  the  European  War,  vol.  I,  No.  2,  pp.  309-313.  It  has  been 
slightly  abbreviated. 

One  cannot  but  admire  the  spirit  that  animates  this  speech 
when  one  remembers  that  it  was  spoken  before  the  Germans 
were   checked   in   the   battle   of  the   Marne. 

1  Eirencon.  A  measure  for  securing  peace.  The  proposed 
arbitration  treaties  were  at  that  time  under  discussion.  The 
treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  was  as- 
sured but  not  finally  revised,  approved,  and  signed  by  both 
nations  until  October  8,  1914.  It  provided  that  matter  in  dis- 
pute between  the  two  nations  must  be  referred  to  an  interna- 
tional commission  for  investigation.  It  also  bound  each  nation 
not  to  enter  upon  hostilities  before  receiving  a  report  from  the 
commission.  Similar  treaties  were  made  by  the  United  States 
with  nearly  all  other  civilized  powers  except  Germany  which 
declined  to  be  so  bound. 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  329 

2  The  sack  of  Louvain.  At  Louvain  in  addition  to  the  out- 
rages that  marked  the  progress  of  the  Germans  through  Belgium, 
they  destroyed  the  beautiful  cathedral  and  burned  the  library 
with  its  priceless  manuscripts. 

3  Sir  Edward  Grey.  For  an  account  of  what  Lord  Grey,  sec- 
retary of  foreign  relations,  had  accomplished  for  the  world's 
peace  before  the  beginning  of  the  Great  War,  see  Europe's 
Ablest  Diplomat,  an  article  in  Harpers  Weekly  for  May  3,  1913. 
In  1914  when  Austria  delivered  her  ultimatum  to  Servia,  Grey 
at  once  sought  to  have  the  difference  submitted  to  arbitration. 
On  July  27  he  proposed  that  France,  Italy,  Germany,  and 
Russia  meet  in  London  in  conference.  Germany  declined.  He 
then  proposed  that  Austria  and  Russia  confer;  and  Austria 
declined.  He  next  suggested  that  Austria  occupy  Belgrade  and 
the  neighboring  territory  as  a  pledge  for  a  satisfactory  settle- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  powers.  On  July  29  he  announced  that 
as  far  as  England  was  concerned,  mediation  was  ready  to  come 
into  operation  by  any  method   that  Germany  thought  possible. 

4  Who  do  not  mean  to  separate.  On  the  very  day  that  this 
speech  was  delivered  England,  France,  and  Russia,  signed  a 
treaty  binding  each  not  to  conclude  a  separate  peace. 

5  The  children  of  the  empire.  The  relations  between  the 
colonies  and  the  Mother  Country  may  well  be  contrasted  with 
that  existing  during  the  premiership  of  Lord  North,  minister  of 
George  III  to  whom  clung  German  traditions.  The  filial 
response  of  the  children  of  the  empire  far  surpassed  Edmund 
Burke's  most  hopeful   dreams. 

6  Mobilization  was  ordered.  Only  a  month  had  passed  since 
war  was  declared,  but  the  response  to  the  call  for  volunteers 
had  been  such  as  to  upset  all  the  German  calculations  and  to 
make  a  victory  at  the  Marne  a  possibility. 

7  Absolutely  assured  of  reinstatement.  Such  expressions  indi- 
cate how  little  statesmen  realized  the  possible  extent  and  dura- 
tion of  the  war. 


WOODROW  WILSON 

Woodrow  Wilson  was  born  at  Staunton,  Virginia,  on  Decem- 
ber 28,  1856.  His  early  life  was  spent  in  the  South.  In  1879 
he  was  graduated  from  Princeton  College,  and  two  years  later 
was  graduated  in  law  from  the  University  of  Virginia.  After  a 
brief  experience  in  law  he  studied  at  Johns  Hopkins  University. 


330  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

His  thesis  for  the  doctorate,  Congressional  Government,  was  his 
first   important  writing. 

In  1890  he  became  professor  of  history  at  Princeton,  and  in 
1902  was  made  president  of  the  university.  In  1910  he  was 
elected  governor  of  New  Jersey — the  first  Democrat  to  hold  that 
ofhce  in  sixteen  years.  In  1912,  he  was  chosen  for  the  presidency 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  1916  was  re-elected.  On  each  occa- 
sion he  filled  the  high  office  with  distinction.  Besides  his  rare 
insight  as  statesman,  President  Wilson  has  unusual  ability  as 
a  master  of  prose  style.  In  these  days  of  almost  countless 
political  documents  of  world-wide  importance,  the  pronounce- 
ments of  the  President  are  generally  accorded  first  place,  both 
for  their  form  and   for  their  sober  wisdom. 

Message  to  Congress,  April  2,  1917 

The  text  is  taken  from  How  the  War  Came  to  America,  a 
pamphlet  issued  by  the  Committee  on  Public  Information, 
Washington,    1918. 

1  Extraordinary  session.  The  session  was  extraordinary  in 
the  sense  that  it  was  a  special  session.  The  regular  session  met 
the  first  Monday  in  December. 

2  Constitutionally  permissible.  The  president  cannot  declare 
war  as  the  Constitution  specifically  gives  that  power  to  Con- 
gress. 

3  Its  promise  then  given  us.  The  President  refers  to  the 
pledge  given  in  answer  to  our  protests  at  the  sinking  of  the 
Sussex  that  in  the  future  Germany  would  not  sink  merchant  ves- 
sels without  warning  and  an  opportunity  for  those  on  board  to 
escape.  Germany's  attempt  to  avoid  responsibility  for  this 
pledge  by  making  it  contingent  on  Great  Britain's  not  continu- 
ing the  blockade  was  thwarted  by  President  Wilson's  note  of 
May  8,  1916,  in  which  he  stated  that  the  United  States  could 
not  consider  the  promise  in  any  way  contingent  on  the  actions  of 
any  other  country;  and  as  Germany  made  no  reply,  consent  was 
understood  in  accordance  with  the  usages  of  international  law. 

4  Ships  have  been  sunk.  Eight  American  ships  had  been 
sunk  in  the  previous  two  months.  Two  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  Americans  had  lost  their  lives,  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
of  whom  perished  in  the  sinking  of  th^  Lusitania. 

5  Make  very  clear  to  all  the  world  what  our  motives  and  err 
objects  are.  This  President  Wilson  was  most  successful  in 
accomplishing.     Cardinal  Mercier,  on  Memorial  Day,  1919,  well 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  33* 

expressed  the  common  understanding  of  America's  aim. 
"  Glorious  America  went  into  the  war,  unurged  by  any  politi- 
cal or  material  interests;  without  any  idea  of  territorial  con- 
quest or  vengeance,  and  gave  the  world  a  magnificent  proof 
of  strength  and  energy.  With  an  improvised  army,  attaining 
immediately  to  the  perfection  of  those  created  by  traditions  of 
discipline,  military  science,   and   strategy. 

"  In  days  gone  by,  knights  would  bring  swords  before  the 
altar  and  beg  God's  blessing.  The  Pontiff  would  answer  their 
call,  saying,  'If  1  die  here,  never  wound  man  unjustly;  de- 
fend all  that  is  right  and  all  that  is  true.'  Then  the  knight, 
three  times  brandishing  his  naked  sword,  and  the  Pontiff  giving 
him   the   kiss  of   peace   would    say,    f  Peace   be    with   you.' 

"  Three  times  within  little  more  than  a  century  have  the 
sons  of  the  Great  Republic  drawn  sword  from  the  sheath  for 
liberty.  Three  times  also  it  has  given  them  victory.  In  1776, 
George  Washington  with  the  help  of  Lafayette,  conquered  for 
Independence.  In  1865,  Abraham  Lincoln  drew  asunder  the 
chains  of  slavery.  On  the  second  of  April,  1917,  your  Presi- 
dent called  forth  the  members  of  Congress  and  spoke  those  im- 
portant  words   that  right   is  more   precious   than   peace." 

6  The  old,  unhappy  days.  Wordsworth  says  the  solitary 
reaper    sang   a    ballad    on 

"  old,  unhappy,  far-off  things, 

And  battles  long  ago.." 

7  The  intercepted  note.  He  refers  to  the  Zimmerman  note  of 
January  19,  1917,  in  which  Mexico  was  notified  of  the  com- 
ing of  unrestricted  submarine  warfare  and  was  offered  an 
alliance  with  Germany.  Mexico  was  to  attempt  to  secure  the 
aid  of  Japan  and  was  to  invade  the  United  States  in  the  hope  of 
conquering  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona.  Germany  was  to 
assist  the  operations  financially.  The  American  Pro-German 
press  immediately  branded  the  note  as  a  forgery,  but  Germany 
not  only  acknowledged  the  genuineness  of  the  note  but  de- 
fended it. 

8  She  can  do  no  other.  President  Wilson  closes  his  address 
with  an  adaptation  of  a  German  sentiment  that  has  come  down 
from  better  days.  The  reference  is  to  the  closing  words  of 
Martin  Luther's  eloquent  refusal  to  retract  before  the  Diet  of 
Worms,  "  Here  stand  I.    God  helping  me  I  can  do  no  other." 


332  LIVES  AND  NOTES 


DAVID  LLOYD-GEORGE 

The  Right  Honorable  David  Lloyd-George  was  born  at  Man- 
chester, England,  in  1863.  After  completing  his  studies  at  the 
Llanystymdwy  Church  School  he  became  in  1884  a  solicitor.  In 
1905  he  became  president  of  the  Board  of  Trade;  and,  during 
the  three  years  he  held  that  office,  distinguished  himself  for 
executive  ability  and  breadth  of  vision.  In  1908  he  succeeded 
Mr.  Asquith  as  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  and  in  1916  when 
the  Liberal  ministry  came  into  power  he  succeeded  Asquith  as 
prime  minister.  Although  beset  by  many  perplexing  problems 
Lloyd-George  maintained  his  ministry  through  his  tact  in 
carrying  on  the  government  and  his  success  in  waging  a  victori- 
ous war. 

The  Meaning  of  America's  Entrance  into  the  War 

The  text  is  taken  slightly  abbreviated  from  The  New  York 
Times  of  April   13,   1917. 

1  Monarchical  swashbucklers.  A  swashbuckler  is  a  bully;  or 
a    swaggering,    boasting   fellow. 

2  Three  wars  all  of  conquest.  Germany  fought  in  1864  with 
Denmark;  in  1866,  with  Austria;  and  in  1870,  with  France. 

3  That  victory  on  Monday.  On  Monday,  April  9,  191 7,  oc- 
curred the  battle  of  Vimy  Ridge. 

WOODROW  WILSON 

The  Flag  Day  Speech 

The  text  is  taken  from  How  the  War  Came  to  America,  a 
pamphlet  issued  by  the  Committee  on  Public  Information,  Wash- 
ington,  1918. 

1  Flag  Day.  The  flag  of  the  United  States  was  formally 
adopted  by  Congress  on  June  14,  1777.  The  governor  of  New 
York  State  in  1897  first  officially  recommended  the  celebration 
of  the  anniversary  as  an  incentive  to  patriotism.  The  day  is 
now  observed   throughout  the  nation. 

2  //  has  no  other  character  than  what  we  give  it.  The  form 
of  this  statement  was  probably  influenced  by  Secretar)'  of  the 
Interior  Franklin  K.  Lane's  speech  on  The  Makers  of  the  Flag. 
The  following  sentences  in  which  the  flag  is  represented  as 
speaking,    are   quoted    from   the    speech,   "  I    am   whatever   you 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  333 

make  me,  nothing  more.  I  am  your  belief  in  yourself,  your 
dream  of  what  a  people  may  become.  I  am  the  day's  work  of 
the  weakest  man  and  the  largest  dream  of  the  most  daring.  I 
am  the  Constitution  and  the  courts,  statutes  and  the  statute- 
makers,  soldier  and  dreadnaught,  drayman  and  street  sweep, 
cook,  counselor,  and  clerk.  I  am  what  you  make  me,  nothing 
more." 

3  The  German  government  itself  here  in  our  own  Capital. 
Count  J.  H.  von  Bernstoff,  the  German  ambassador  to  the  United 
States,  with  the  help  of  Dr.  Bernhard  Dernberg,  directed  Ger- 
man propaganda  in  America.  Bernstoff  was  connected  with  the 
Zimmerman  note.  On  January  22,  1917,  he  asked  the  German 
foreign  office  for  $50,000,  with  which  to  try  to  influence  Congress, 
and  he  was  in  communication  with  agents  who  undertook 
sabotage.  Dr.  Constantin  Dumba,  the  Austrian  ambassador  to 
the  United  States,  was  vigorously  engaged  in  fomenting  labor 
troubles.  His  activity  in  this  direction  was  first  definitely 
established  through  one  of  his  letters  that  fell  into  British  hands. 

4  The  guns  of  German  warships.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
war  the  German  cruisers,  the  Goeben  and  the  Breslau,  took 
refuge  in  the  Dardanelles.  Instead  of  interning  these  ships  in 
accordance  with  international  law,  the  Turkish  government — 
then  ostensibly  neutral — pretended  to  buy  them. 

5  Our  ancient  tradition  of  isolation.  This  marks  an  advance 
into  participation  in  world  politics  beyond  even  that  advocated 
by  President  Roosevelt  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish-American 
War. 

OTTO  H.  KAHN 

Otto  H.  Kahn  was  born  in  Mannheim,  Germany,  February 
21,  1867.  His  early  life  was  spent  in  that  city  and  there  he 
received  a  college  education  and  was  enrolled  for  one  year  in 
the  German  army.  After  learning  banking  in  Germany,  he 
spent  fivje  years  in  London  in  a  branch  of  the  Deutsche  Bank. 
In  August,  1893,  he  came  to  America  and  took  up  his  residence 
in  New  York  where  he  became  identified  with  American  social 
and  commercial  life.  Although  perhaps  best  known  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Kuhn,  Loeb,  &  Company  and  as  a  director  of  several 
trust  and  railroad  corporations,  he  has  nevertheless  generously 
devoted  himself  to  the  promotion  of  numerous  artistic  and 
literary  movements.  In  the  field  of  music  he  has  served  his  fel- 
low   citizens    as    chairman    of    the    Metropolitan    and    Century 


334  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

Opera  companies,  and  has  assisted  several  other  musical  or- 
ganizations both  in  America  and  in  England.  His  pen  and 
voice  have  constantly  championed  the  cause  of  democracy  and 
social  and  political  reform.  He  has  looked  to  education  to  help 
solve  many  of  the  social  problems  of  the  day  and  has  always 
been  a  generous  supporter  of  such  work.  When  the  great 
problem  of  the  world  war  presented  itself  to  the  American 
people,  German  born  though  he  was,  Mr.  Kahn  immediately 
took  the  side  of  justice  and  democracy  against  Prussian  domi- 
nation. His  first  hand  knowledge  of  German  conditions  and  his 
thorough-going  Americanism  enabled  him  to  perform  a  unique 
service  in  mobilizing  the  loyalty  of  American  citizens  of  Ger- 
man birth. 

Prussianized  Germany 

The  text  is  taken  from  pp.  77-87,  Right  above  Race,  New 
York,  1918. 

President  Wilson  has  said:  "I  would  not  be  afraid  upon  the 
test  of  '  America  first '  to  take  a  census  of  all  the  foreign  born 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  for  I  know  that  the  majority  of 
them  came  here  because  they  believed  in  America;  and  their 
belief  in  America  made  them  better  citizens  than  some  peo- 
ple who  were  born  in  America.  ...  I  am  not  deceived  as  to 
the  balance  of  opinion  among  the  foreign  born  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  but  I  am  in  a  hurry  for  an  opportunity  to  have  a 
line-up  and  let  the  men  who  are  thinking  first  of  other  countries 
stand  on  one  side,  and  all  those  that  are  for  America,  first,  last, 
and   all   the  time,  on  the  other    side." 

1  The  only  road.  The  German  people  were  led  astray 
through  the  substitution  of  propaganda  for  education;  a  re- 
turn to  their  former  happy  condition  could  be  effected  only 
through  revolution. 

2  Only  one  course.  In  Where  Do  You  Stand?  a  book  ad- 
dressed to  German-Americans,  Herman  Hagedorn  writes  as 
follows.  "  Where  do  you  stand  ?  The  question  has  been  put  to 
nations  and  to  men  again  and  again  since  that  tragic  day  in 
1914  when  the  Great  War  began.  Turkey  and  Bulgaria  an- 
swered it  in  one  way;  Servia  and  Belgium,  in  another. 

"  We  Americans  of  German  origin  stand  at  the  cross-roads. 
If  we  step  forth  now,  without  hesitation,  and  without  reserve 
for  America  and  her  cause,  we  will  be  regarded  henceforth  as 
Americans   and    nothing   but   Americans,    loved    and    respected 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  335 

more  possibly  than  any  other  element  in  our  population,  because 
we  have  been  put  to  the  greatest  test  of  all  and  have  proved 
faithful  to  the  Republic. 

"  I  appeal  to  you  because  I  am  one  of  you.  I  have  been  torn 
as  you  are  torn.  I  love  German  men  and  women  and  German 
forests  and  hills  and  songs  as  you  love  them.  I  too  have  a 
father  in  Germany;  I  too  had  a  German  mother;  and  I  too 
have  brothers  fighting  in  Germany's  armies.  For  a  time  my 
reason  as  well  as  my  heart  was  with  Germany's  cause,  and  even 
after  my  reason  would  no  longer  Tet  me  hope  for  Germany's 
triumph,  for  a  time  my  heart  was  still  rebelliously  thrilled  at 
the  news  of  a  German  victory. 

"  And  I  say  to  you  most  solemnly,  the  time  has  come  for  us 
all  who  are  of  German  origin  to  stand  forth  and  individually 
and  collectively,  publicly  declare  ourselves. 

"  I  am  against  Germany.  I  wish  to  see  my  country  victori- 
ous and  Germany  defeated.  To  the  fulfilment  of  this  wish,  I 
pledge  my  hands,  my  heart,  and  my  spirit." 

WOODROW  WILSON 

President  Wilson's  Address  at  Baltimore 

The  text  of  this  speech  is  taken  from  The  Brooklyn  Eagle 
of  April  7,  1918. 

1  This  is  the  anniversary.  Congress  declared  war  on  April 
6,  1917. 

2  The  nation  is  awake.  Unity  of  sentiment  and  unity  of 
action  were  at  last  found  throughout  the  nation. 

3  Are  ready  to  lend  to  the  utmost.  The  first  Liberty  Loan 
was  opened  on  June  15,  1917.  $2,000,000,000  was  offered  at 
3^2  per  cent  and  $3,035,226,850  was  subscribed.  The  second 
loan  came  on  October  27,  1917.  The  amount  asked  was  $3,000,- 
000,000  at  4  per  cent  and  $4,617,532,300  was  subscribed.  The 
loan  offered  on  April  6,  1917,  the  day  of  this  speech,  was  for 
$3,000,000,000  at  4*4  per  cent.  $4,170,019,650  was  subscribed. 
The  fact  that  seventeen  million  people  subscribed  not  less  than 
fifty  dollars  each  for  the  third  loan  indicates  the  sense  of  per- 
sonal responsibility  that  animated  the  American  nation  in  the 
second  year  of  American  participation  in  the  Great  War. 

4  The  man  who  knows  least  can  now  see  plainly.  Note  the 
confident,  optimistic  tone  of  the  speaker.  He  knows  that  a 
united  nation  stands  behind  him. 


336  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

5  They  are  enjoying  in  Russia  a  cheap  triumph.  On  Decem- 
ber 15,  1917,  as  a  result  of  generous  promises  on  the  part  of 
Germany,  an  armistice  was  signed  between  the  Central  Powers 
and  the  Bolsheviki  government  of  Russia  at  Brest-Litovsk.  In 
the  parley  that  followed  Germany  rapidly  withdrew  the  rea- 
sonable advances  that  she  had  made  at  first.  Not  only  did 
Germany  refuse  to  evacuate  Russian  occupied  territory,  but  she 
refused  to  allow  the  Russian  people  to  determine  their  own 
form  of  government  and  political  affiliations.  Russia,  more- 
over, was  to  be  obligated  to  indemnify  Germany  for  war 
losses,  but  the  latter  would  not  be  expected  to  repay  Russia  for 
damages  done  in  the  war. 

6  Force  to  the  utmost.  America  mobilized  4,272,521  men.  Of 
these  over  2,000,000  were  sent  to  France.  At  the  time  the 
armistice  was  signed  the  United  States  possessed  the  largest 
army  on  the  western  front  except  that  of  France. 


CHARLES  EVANS  HUGHES 

Charles  Evans  Hughes,  the  son  of  Reverend  David  D. 
Hughes,  a  Baptist  clergyman,  was  born  in  Glens  Falls,  New 
York,  in  1862.  After  his  graduation  from  Brown  University 
he  took  up  the  study  of  law  in  preparation  for  his  subsequent 
practice  in  New  York  City.  While  engaged  in  this  profession 
he  came  into  national  prominence  as  a  special  investigator  of 
the  irregular  practices  of  the  large  life  insurance  corporations. 
The  public  admiration  he  won  for  himself  in  this  investigation 
sent  him  in  1907  to  the  governor's  chair  at  Albany. 

His  administration  as  governor  was  characterized  by  ag- 
gressive but  sound  legislation.  Among  other  reforms  that  he 
urged  was  the  abolishment  of  commercialized  race-track  gam- 
bling. In  1909  he  was  reelected  as  governor  but  resigned  the 
following  year  to  accept  an  appointment  from  President  Taft 
as  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
In  1916  he  accepted  the  Republican  nomination  for  president. 
With  the  assistance  of  both  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Ex- 
president  Taft  he  tried  to  lead  the  Republican  party  to  victory, 
but  was  unsuccessful.  During  the  World  War,  as  chairman 
of  the  board  appointed  to  administer  the  Selective  Service  Act, 
he  gave  his  country  efficient  aid   in  enforcing  the  draft. 

In  1920  he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State  by  President 
Harding.     In   spite  of  the  difficulties   occasioned   by   a   marked 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  337 

change  of  national  policy  he  administered  the  complex  affairs 
of  this  important  office  so  successfully  as  to  win  both  the 
plaudits  of  his  countrymen  and  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
European  statesmen.  Mr.  Balfour  said  in  nominating  him  for 
chairman  of  the  conference  for  the  limitation  of  armament 
that  Secretary  Hughes  was  fitted  for  the  great  and  responsible 
duty  by  capacity,  character,  courtesy,  and  experience.  His 
private  and  public  life  have  been  so  admirable  that  his  op- 
ponents, even  in  the  heat  of  political  controversy,  are  inclined 
rather  to  attack  his  policies  than  attempt  to  dispute  either  his 
ability  or  character. 

Limitation  of  Armament 

The  text  is  that  found  in  the  daily  papers  of  November  13, 
1921. 

1  Discernible  sources  of  controversy.  Differences  of  opinion 
concerning  the  rights  of  oriental  labor,  the  reputed  ambition 
of  Japan  to  control  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  opportunities  for 
trade  with  China,  the  Anglo-Japanese  alliance,  and  the  loca- 
tion of  cable  and  naval  stations,  had  at  times  been  considered 
possible  causes  of  war  between  the  United  States  and  other 
countries. 

2  The  Far  Eastern  questions.  On  December  13,  1921,  repre- 
sentatives of  Japan,  Great  Britain,  France,  and  the  United 
States  signed  a  four  power  treaty  in  which  they  engaged  for 
ten  years  to  cooperate  peacefully  in  the  Pacific.  In  case  of 
controversy  they  agreed  to  meet  in  conference  to  determine 
upon   appropriate    action. 

3  The  cost  of  victory.  Ten  million  lives  were  lost  in  the 
World  War,  two  hundred  and  fifty  billion  dollars'  worth  of 
property  was  destroyed,  and  the  national  debts  of  the  principal 
countries  rose  from  forty-three  billion  dollars  in  1913  to  three 
hundred  and  eighty-two  billion  dollars  in  1920.  Because  of 
the  war  the  German  debt  increased  fifty  fold;  the  United 
States  debt,  twenty-four  fold;  the  British  debt,  twelve  fold; 
the  French  debt,  eight  fold;   and  the  Italian  debt,  six  fold. 

4  A  matter  of  vital  necessity.  Great  Britain's  expense  for 
her  navy  rose  from  $150,000,000  in  1907  to  $1,670,000,000  in 
1918;  and  during  the  same  period  the  annual  naval  expense 
of  the  United  States  increased  from  $100,000,000  to  $1,800,- 
000,000.  It  is  expected  that  the  Hughes  plan  will  save  a  total 
of  $600,000,000  a  year  for  the  three  countries  concerned. 


338  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

5  With  the  acceptance  of  this  plan.  The  concrete  plan  which 
Secretary  Hughes  laid  before  the  conference  at  this  point  in 
his  address  is  as  follows: 

The  United  States  is  now  completing  its  program  of  1916 
calling  for  ten  new  battleships  and  six  battle  cruisers.  One 
battleship  has  been  completed.  The  others  are  in  various 
stages  of  construction;  in  some  cases  from  sixty  to  eighty  per 
cent,  of  the  construction  has  been  done.  On  these  fifteen 
capital  ships  now  being  built  over  $330,000,000  have  been  spent. 
Still  the  United  States  is  willing,  in  the  interest  of  an  immedi- 
ate limitation  of  naval   armaments,   to  scrap   all   these   ships. 

The  United  States  proposes,  if  this  plan  is  accepted: 

(1)  To  scrap  all  capital  ships  now  under  construction. 
This  includes  six  battle  cruisers  and  seven  battleships  on  the 
ways  and  in  the  course  of  building,  and  two  battleships 
launched. 

The  total  number  of  new  capital  ships  thus  to  be  scrapped 
is  fifteen.  The  total  tonnage  of  the  new  capital  ships  when 
completed  would  be  618,000  tons. 

(2)  To  scrap  all  of  the  older  battleships  up  to,  but  not 
including,  the  Delaware  and  North  Dakota.  The  number  of 
these  old  battleships  to  be  scrapped  is  fifteen.  Their  total  ton- 
nage is  227,740  tons. 

Thus  the  number  of  capital  ships  to  be  scrapped  by  the 
United  States,  if  this  plan  is  accepted,  is  thirty,  with  an  aggre- 
gate tonnage  (including  that  of  ships  in  construction,  if  com- 
pleted)  of  845,740  tons. 

The  plan  contemplates  that  Great  Britain  and  Japan  shall 
take  action  which  is  fairly  commensurate  with  this  action  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  proposed  that  Great  Britain: 

(1)  Shall  stop  further  construction  of  the  four  new  Hoods, 
the  new  capital  ships  not  laid  down,  but  upon  which  money 
has  been  spent.  The  four  ships,  if  completed,  would  have  a 
tonnage  displacement  of  172,000  tons. 

(2)  Shall,  in  addition,  scrap  her  pre-dreadnoughts,  second 
line  battleships  and  first  line  battleships  up  to,  but  not  includ- 
ing the  King  George  V.  class. 

These,  with  certain  pre-dreadnoughts  which  it  is  understood 
have  already  been  scrapped,  would  amount  to  nineteen  capital 
ships  and   a  tonnage  reduction  of  411,375   tons. 

The   total   tonnage   of   ships   thus   to   be    scrapped    by    Great 


LIVES  AND  NOTES  339 

Britain     (including    the    tonnage    of    the    four    Hoods,    if    com- 
pleted)   would  be  583,375   tons. 
It  is  proposed  that  Japan: 

(1)  Shall  abandon  her  program  of  ships  not  yet  laid  down, 
viz.,  the  K-Il,  Oivari,  No.  7  and  No.  8,  battleships,  and  Nos.  5, 
6,  7   and   8,  battle   cruisers. 

It  should  be  observed  that  this  does  not  involve  the  stopping 
of  construction,  as  the  construction  of  none  of  these  ships  has 
been  begun. 

(2)  Shall  scrap  three  capital  ships  (the  Mutsu,  launched; 
the  Tosa,  the  Kago,  in  course  of  building),  and  four  battle 
cruisers  (the  Amagi  and  Akagi,  in  course  of  building,  and  the 
Atoga  and  Takao,  not  yet  laid  down,  but  for  which  certain 
material  has  been  assembled). 

The  total  number  of  new  capital  ships  to  be  scrapped  under 
this  paragraph  is  seven.  The  total  tonnage  of  these  new 
capital   ships,  when  completed,  would  be  289,130  tons. 

(3)  Shall  scrap  all  pre-dreadnoughts  and  battleships  of  the 
second  line.  This  would  include  the  scrapping  of  all  ships  up 
to,  but  not  including,  the  Settsu;  that  is,  the  scrapping  of  ten 
old   ships,  with  a  total   tonnage  of   159,828   tons. 

The  total  reduction  of  tonnage  on  vessels  existing,  laid  down 
or  for  which  material  has  been  assembled  (taking  the  tonnage 
of  the  new  ships  when  completed)   would  be  448,928  tons. 

Thus,  under  this  plan,  there  would  be  immediately  destroyed, 
of  the  navies  of  the  three  powers,  sixty-six  capital  righting 
ships,  built  and  building,  with   a  total  tonnage  of  1,878,043. 

It  is  proposed  that  it  should  be  agreed  by  the  United  States, 
Great  Britain  and  Japan  that  their  navies,  with  respect  to 
capital  ships,  within  three  months  after  the  making  of  th? 
agreement,  shall  consist  of  certain  ships,  designated  in  the  pro- 
posal, and  number  for  the  United  States  18,  for  Great  Britain 
22,  for  Japan  10. 

The  tonnage  of  these  ships  would  be  as  follows:  Of  the 
United  States  500,650,  of  Great  Britain  604,450,  of  Japan 
299,700.  In  reaching  this  result  the  age  factor  in  the  case  of 
the  respective  navies  has  reached   appropriate  consideration. 

With  respect  to  replacement,  the  United  States  proposes: 

(1)  That  it  be  agreed  that  the  first  replacement  tonnage 
shall  not  be  laid  down  until  ten  years  from  the  date  of  ths 
agreement. 

(2)  That  replacements  be  limited  by  an  agreed  maximum 
of  capital  ship  tonnage  as  follows: 


340  LIVES  AND  NOTES 

For  the  United  States,  500,000  tons. 
For  Great  Britain,  500,000  tons. 
For  Japan,  300,000  tons. 

(3)  That,  subject  to  the  ten  year  limitation  above  fixed  and 
the  maximum  standard,  capital  ships  may  be  replaced  when 
they  are  twenty  years  old  by  new  capital  ship  construction. 

(4)  That  no  capital  ship  shall  be  built  in  replacement  wilh 
a  tonnage  displacement  of  more  than  35,000  tons. 

I  have  sketched  the  proposal  only  in  outline,  leaving  the 
technical  details  to  be  supplied  by  the  formal  proposition,  which 
is  ready  for  submission  to  the  delegates. 

The  plan  includes  provision  for  the  limitation  of  auxiliary 
surface  combatant  craft.  This  term  embraces  three  classes, 
that  is: 

(1)  Auxiliary  surface  combatant  craft,  such  as  cruisers  (ex- 
clusive of  battle  cruisers),  flotilla  leaders,  destroyers,  and  vari- 
ous surface  types;    (2)   submarines  and   (3)    airplane  carriers. 

On  December  15,  1921,  the  representatives  of  the  United 
States,  Great  Britain,  and  Japan  signed  the  so-called  5-5-3 
Three  Power  naval  agreement.  It  practically  reproduced  the 
Hughes  plan;  but  it.  permitted  the  completion  of  the  North 
Dakota  and  the  Delaware  by  the  United  States  and  two  super- 
Hoods  by  Great  Britain.  Japan  was  released  from  destroying 
the  sentiment-financed  Mutsu  which  was  built  with  yen  and 
sen  from  the  pockets  of  the  poor. 

On  February  6,  1922,  the  representatives  of  the  conferring 
powers  solemnly  signed  treaties  concerning  the  limitation  of 
naval  armament,  the  specification  of  national  rights  in  the 
Pacific,  the  restriction  of  the  use  of  poison  gas  and  submarines 
*in  warfare,  and  the  maintenance  of  native  rule  in  China.  The 
conference  then  came  to  an  end. 


j^4 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


MAY 


I2r 


ftp 


•    '-CLiVED 


MAR    5*67-1  P» 


JU 


■N  DEPT. 


Z i_>B 


fi&r 


— 


MAR2  019G7Srirnf> 


_ 


m  f? 


;ARl7/,7 


zrw 


*3. JEC'D  LP  ftU9 


I 


LD  21A-60m-7,'66 
(G4427sl0)476B 


General  Library 
University  of  California 

Berkeley  ^V 


rm 


Ja// 


/ 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


